Lost from a New View
by DwellInDreams1019
Summary: This is a story told from the point of view of some new characters; characters that have not been before mentioned. Basically, it's a couple of my own characters that I made from their point of view. NOT an OC Submission story starts in Season 1. Enjoy!
1. Stuck on the Island

**Hey everyone! I'm Erin! This is my first Lost story and I've been actually working on this for nearly a year, so I've got quite a few chapters written already. At first, I wasn't really sure if I should have posted it or not, because I didn't know what people were going to think of it and I was afraid of messing up something in the story line, but I just recently started thinking "What the heck? Might as well". :)**

**Since I am a nominee for Lost's biggest fan ever (lol, no joke in my mind), I had to create my own characters. This story includes 5 (and 1 really minor character) that I created. 2 are Losties, 2 are Others and 1 is a Tailie. It's starting from Season 1, so at this point only Callie and Dani (and Anna, the minor character) will be introduced, but as I start getting into the other seasons, my other characters will be. So yeah.**

**Sorry for the lost author's note (I talk a lot) and I hope you enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lost (even though I really wish I did) or any of the characters in the actual show. All of the conversations that the actual characters have were made by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff who, might I add, are complete geniuses. :)**

Chapter 1, Day 1

_Callie_

I looked down at the empty plastic cup, which had previously been full of soda, with a sigh. I was still thirsty and also needed a bit of comfort. I'm not big on flying and this plane was scaring me. There is quite a bit of turbulence.

I gripped the seat handles as hard as I possibly could when the plane shook again. I really wish it would stop doing that. My mother sitting next to me noticed my discomfort at the heavy shaking. She smiled at me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright Callie," she said smoothly in her British accent, "it's just a bit of turbulence; nothing to worry about." I managed the best of a smile that I could and nodded, unconvinced. No matter what she could say, I would still be freaked out.

When the plane stopped shaking, I relaxed my grip a bit and looked around the plane. Everyone seemed calm for the most part. My eyes stopped on a pretty blonde lady whose stomach bulged out heavily. She was pregnant. Her eyes met mine and she offered me a warm smile. I returned it and looked forward again.

Just when I was starting to get comfortable, the plane shook again. I gripped the seat in a death grip once more, waiting for the shaking to stop.

But this time, it never did.

By the time the oxygen masked came down everything was a blur to me. I briefly remember my mother putting the oxygen mask around me. I heard screams all around me and soon a huge cracking sound followed by a gust of wind that wouldn't go away.

I didn't dare look back, even though it was obvious the back of the plane had broken off. All I could remember thinking was that I was going to die and the end. I was closing my eyes tightly and I felt a crash. The last thing I remember before blacking out was being pulled away.

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My green eyes fluttered open. Immediately, my head started throbbing. The whirring noise for sure did not help it. I sat up to a horrifying sight. The plane was in front of me, or at least what was left of the plane. People were running around everywhere; some in panic, some helping others and some just in confusion.

I looked around more, listening to specific sounds and at certain people. There was a Korean man shouting the name Sun, a black man calling out the name Walt, and one girl who was just…screaming. Not screaming for anyone or anything in particular, but just screaming.

I watched in horror as a man standing to close to the engine was sucked to the engine, blowing it up. I turned away, not wanting to watch it anymore. Then a sudden thought popped into my head; where was my mother?

Immediately, I shot up, and clutched my head a bit out of the dizziness it caused me. My legs felt heavy but I still managed to walk up to the broken plane. I could still read the letters and numbers on the side of it: _Oceanic 815_.

For some reason, I just can't stop staring at the plane. I stayed there for a few minutes, just staring at it. This is until a man approached me.

"Do you have a pen?" he asked. I start puzzled back at him.

"What? I-I -No, I don't have a pen." I replied. He walked off, seeming frustrated. I had no idea what that was all about. My thoughts were distracted as a loud, terrible metallic whine hit my ears. I didn't even want to know what that came from and I turned my head away as I heard two men shouting and a crash.

I panted heavily in horror as tears started running down my face. I quickly dried them up, not wanting to seem like the defenseless teenager who was scared for her life, even though that's exactly what I was. Bravely, I stood up straight, brushed my dirt filled curly blonde hair behind me and headed for the fuselage. I had just began to head into the wreckage until, of course, someone stopped me.

"Hey, you there! Little girl, get away from there!" I angrily turned my head to a guy approaching me. He had a British accent, a black hoodie and had shaggy blonde hair. I sighed impatiently as he was closer.

When he arrived, he panted out, "It's not safe in there. At least not now." He seemed a little confused when he looked at me, like I was familiar to him or something.

"Look, first of all," I snapped at the man, "I'm not a little girl. I'm 14, almost 15. Second, my mother might be in that plane, alive and well and if you think I'm just going to sit here, just hoping she's gonna appear out of nowhere, you are wrong. You can't stop me." I glared and turned away. The man threw up his hands in defeat.

"Fine. I'll just have to go with you," he declared. He looked sincere and the anger left me.

"You don't have to do that," I said in a much softer voice.

"If you insist on going; then I'm coming with you," he replied.

"Well let's go then." With that we made our way into the fuselage together.

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_Dani_

Ok, I felt entirely useless. Almost everyone on the beach was running around, doing something. Shouting for help, looking for loved ones and looking for luggage were some of these. And here I was, sitting near a tree, writing in my journal.

It sounds pathetic, but I really needed to write down what happened. The crash was a big deal to me. This could be a big article once we got rescued. If we got rescued. I shook my head not allowing myself to think like that. As I continued to write, my pen ran out of ink. I cursed myself for giving that man my last pen. There were probably more on the island though, hopefully.

I closed my journal and stuffed the pen and the journal into my small backpack. I sighed and rested my back against the tree, and shut my eyes. I really do hate my luck. When I opened them again, I got up and made my way towards more people. Some were trying to make a fire and trying to find their luggage now. I should probably try to find mine, but it was getting darker and I was a bit afraid of going near the plane, especially at dark. I decided to wait.

It was getting a bit darker now and a few of the survivors had managed to make a fire. Not wanting to be alone, I joined a few of them and sat by it, enjoying the feeling of the heat.

I didn't notice the man next to me until he spoke.

"Are you all right?" he asked, in an Arabic accent. The man himself was Arab, and strongly built. I smiled and nodded, glad to talk to someone.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," I replied in my Italian accent. The man smiled.

"My name is Sayid. What is yours?"

"I'm Dani. Dani Moretti. Nice to meet you." I replied, sticking out my hand. He shook it politely and turned away. I did also and closed my eyes again—ignoring the fact that I was now stranded on an island with a bunch of strangers—and relaxed. I focused only on the fire and finally felt calm.

I opened my eyes again and looked around seeing things had become calmer. The light was dimming from the sky by every minute and people were starting to recover from the crash. A blonde, pregnant woman was on the beach looking out at the water. A large man was putting meals from the plane into neat piles. An older bald man was sitting on the sand close to the water, looking out.

The guy looking for pens passed me with a cell phone in his hand, trying to get a signal, apparently not with much luck. It took me until now to notice, but I couldn't help but think how incredibly attractive he was. I shyly looked away.

The Arabic man, Sayid, was gathering up wood for the fire, trying to make it bigger. I wanted to talk to somebody, just a little. I noticed an older woman across from me pick up her necklace and kiss the ring on it. I immediately felt sorry for her, guessing that she probably lost her husband. I looked back down at the fire and closed my eyes again.

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_Callie_

I carefully made my way up the isle of the fuselage, stepping over debris and lucky not tripping. The blonde man was closely behind me, making sure I didn't fall. I thought that was kinda nice actually, but at the same time incredibly annoying.

"Mom?" I called out, starting to get more worried. Every negative thought possible ran through my head making it even worse for me. I walked slowly past the rows of seats, trying not to look at the dead bodies in them.

I froze when I saw the back of my mother's head. She wasn't moving. Slowly, I made my way up to her and then looked at her face. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was dead.

It felt like a part of me had been ripped out and torn to pieces. I closed my eyes tightly and slowly sat on the floor. I put my face in my hands and let the tears seep out.

"Anna?" I looked up at the man's voice. His voice seemed pained and he looked probably exactly as I did. Wait a minute; did he just say my mom's name?

"H-how did you know my mother's name?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly, but my expression as hard a stone. The man looked at me in astonishment.

"You're mother?" he questioned. "Anna's my sister."

I could only stare, a million questions running through my head. Finally I spoke.

"What do you mean she's your sister?" Maybe that wasn't the best question to ask, but it was the only one I could seem to say.

"I mean, well, she's my sister. You know, parents the same, grew up together. Related. Wait, if you're her daughter that means you're my niece which means…you must be Callie!" Immediately, he smiled in joy at this finding.

"You know me?"

"Well, I haven't personally met you but Anna told me everything about you! I can't believe I'm finally meeting you! Even in the worst of circumstances."With this, he seemed joyful but he still sadly looked over at my mother and around the plane. I was pretty much speechless. Why hadn't my mother told me about her brother, but yet told him about me.

"W-who are you?" I ask, feeling a little calmer but not by much. He stuck out and hand as he replied.

"My name is Charlie Pace." I shook it, now believing that he wasn't lying, considering that was my mother's last name. I nodded and took another glace at my mother. He looked at her too and spoke again, "I guess we better leave. There's nothing we can do." I nodded again and turned to leave.

Charlie followed me out, still closely behind me. As odd as the situation was, I was actually glad to find out that I had another family member. Better yet, a family member that happened to crash on the same island as me. It was good to know that I wasn't alone in this world. But I was still completely astonished. I mean, all of a sudden out of nowhere, I have an uncle. It was crazy.

As these thoughts ran through my head, I thought of how familiar my uncle's name sounded to me. When I finally realized where I heard it, I stopped and turned back to him.

"You said your name was Charlie Pace right? Like, Charlie Pace from DriveShaft?" I asked, referring to one of my favorite bands. He smiled immediately.

"Yeah, I'm from DriveShaft. You know us?" he asked happily. I smiled.

"They're one of my favorite bands. This is amazing."

"Really? I'm glad you like us!" I smiled even wider and walked next to him to a nearby fire. At this fire, there were a couple people huddled in blankets. There was an Arabic man, and older black woman, and a kind looking brunette girl. It was now night so I couldn't make out most of the rests faces.

I was handed a blanket and I wrapped it around myself, not realizing before how cold I was. The fire felt good and the blanket helped. Charlie and I introduced ourselves to the rest. The Arabic man was named Sayid, the older woman Rose and the brunette girl Dani. Time seemed to pass slowly, but it was still getting even darker each moment. There were now several fires; a small group huddled up, talking, for each one.

"You think they would have come by now," Sayid said, breaking the silence in our group. Charlie looked up at him.

"Who?" Charlie asked.

"Anyone." Charlie looked away and back down at something he was writing on his hands. I saw the girl, Dani, get up and walk somewhere, probably to go explore around. Meet more people possibly. I snuggled back into my blanket and closed my eyes again, feeling more comfortable than I probably ever will on this place. I guess I better enjoy it while it lasts.

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_Dani_

I wandered around, looking at all of the faces from the plane. I probably wouldn't get to know all of them before we get rescued, but I wanted to at least get to know some. Looking around, I saw a young blonde woman away from the fires. Out of all things do to after a plane crash, she was painting her toenails. She was sitting with someone. It appeared to be a young man. Well, it couldn't hurt to go talk to them. I mean, they were all alone.

"Mind if I sit here?" I asked them. The young woman looked up at me and just shrugged, continuing her task. I almost jumped at recognition of the man. It was the one who was asking for the pens. His bright blue eyes met mine.

"Go ahead," he said, taking a bite of a candy bar. I couldn't really tell what his tone was. It sounded annoyed but at the same time like he didn't really care.

"Thanks," I replied and hesitantly sat down. I looked over at them. "My name's Daniella. But, um, you can call me Dani."

He nodded and looked away again. Not very social, I see. I took another shot at a conversation and I bravely asked, "What's your name?" to the man. He looked back at me.

"Boone. And this pleasant ray of sunshine is my sister Shannon." Shannon looked up at him and glared again. He ignored her. "Would you like a piece?" he offered referring to the candy bar. I smiled and nodded.

"That'd be nice, thank you." Boone broke off a piece of the candy and gave it to me. Yay to progress on talking to people! I turned back to Boone. "Do you mind if I stay in this area? I-If you do, I'll l-leave?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Sure," was his reply and I nodded, pulling out an airplane blanket I had taken. He smiled. "You took an airplane blanket?" I smiled back.

"They're comfortable," I joked, shrugging one shoulder. I turned away and lay down, using my backpack as a pillow. I wrapped the blanket around me and curled up.

I shot up as a loud growl came from the forest. I starting to stand up, along with several people, wondering what the hell that was. I moved towards the larger fire, where most people were. I saw Boone moving with me.

It was dark, but it was easy to see that some of the trees in the jungle were being pulled down. "Did anybody see that?" the pregnant Australian woman that I had seen before asked and several people nodded their head, including me. No one, however, could see what was creating the sound and pulling the trees.

"Terrific," a man in the front said unenthusiastically. The noise continued for maybe another fifteen minutes, before it finally stopped. People nervously went back to their own sections where they were staying but continued to look around, expecting to see the monster creating the noise. I also went back to my previous sleeping place and cuddled up again. I sighed and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

**There's chapter 1! It's so short cause it was more of an introduction chapter, but I hope you liked it anyway! Leave me a review please! :D**

**CaptJess :)**


	2. Where are we?

**Hey! Happy Lost day! :D**

**Tonight's episode wasn't really what I was expecting, but I was happy cause I didn't cry like I usually do, my favorite character ever (Miles) came back and I was right about something! Haha! Whoo. Anyways, this next chapter is A LOT longer than the last one and I think it's better and it goes into my character's pasts. So enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or anything in it.**

Chapter 2, Day 2

_Callie_

I woke up early the next morning. It had to be around seven or eight but still a lot of people were up. I slowly got up and walked over to the closest group, where my uncle was. We had talked a lot last night, finding things in common and getting to know one another. He was quite funny actually, and I enjoyed being around him.

There were lots of people talking about 'the thing' from last night. None of us had any idea what it was. I could have just been a really large animal, but could an animal be large enough to pull down a bunch of trees like that?

I sat down in the group next to Charlie and barely smiled at the people around me. I noticed the black man before that was shouting a name. He found whoever he was looking for because a child, no older than ten years old was next to him. I guessed his name was Walt. Sayid and Dani were across from me and I recognized the guy that was asking for pens next to her and a blonde woman next to him.

"It wasn't natural, whatever it was," the black man said. This group was talking about the thing too, apparently.

"Anyone have any sun block?" Charlie said, ignoring the other man.

"Yeah, I do," the blonde woman responded, reaching into her bag. By this time, the large man I had seen before came over to us.

"So…I was just looking inside the fuselage…it's pretty grim in there," he said, sounding a little scared. "You think we should do something about the, um," he glanced back over at Walt, the little boy and continued, "B-O-D-Y-S?" Everyone looked around confused. He actually spelled bodies wrong.

"What are you spelling, man, bodies?" Walt's father said. Ironically, his son corrected the large man.

"B-O-D-_I-E-S_," Walt corrected.

"That sounds like a good idea," Sayid agreed.

"No, they'll deal with them when they get here," the blonde woman shot back and the pen man looked a little irritated. Another man had come up to us now. He looked around in his mid 30's and had short dark brown hair. He kneeled down.

"Hey, we're going to look for the cockpit. See if we can find a transceiver to send a distress signal to help the rescue team," he informed us and then turned to the pen man, "I'm gonna need you to keep an eye on the wounded." I assumed that they had met the previous day as he continued to give him instructions.

"I'll come with," Charlie said standing up, once the other man finished. I was kind of surprised that he offered to accompany them.

"No, that's ok. We don't need any help." The man stood up.

"No, I want to help. I don't really feel like just sitting around." The man nodded and Charlie turned back to me. "Would you like to come also?" I shook my head.

"No, thanks. I, on the other hand, do feel like sitting around," I refused, smiling. He smiled and left. When they left, I focused on Dani and Sayid's conversation.

"Who was that man that just left? The man going to the cockpit?" Dani asked. I was about to ask that question too.

"That was Jack. He's a doctor. The man that left with him was Charlie, and I do not know the name of the woman with them," Sayid replied. Both Dani and I nodded. I looked over at the remaining people in the group, whom I did not know and asked for their names.

The pen man was named Boone and the blonde woman next to him was his sister Shannon. The large man was named Hurley and the boy's father was Michael. I was glad to finally learn people's names. People came and left our little group. The pregnant woman came to sit next to me.

"Hello," she said sitting down next to me. She had an Australian accent.

"Hi," I greeted back."I'm Callie."

"Claire." She smiled and put her hand on her stomach.

"How far along are you?" I asked.

"Almost eight months. I haven't felt it since after the crash though. I'm not sure if it's ok or not." I nodded sadly.

"I'm sure it is. Once the doctor gets back you can check with him." She smiled again and we went into a comfortable silence. All of a sudden, clouds went over the sun and heavy rain started to pour down. Claire and I raced under a hanging piece of plane debris, where Rose was also. An older man was probably the only one not looking for shelter, but instead happily letting the rain pour on him.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

It was back. The thing was back. I stepped out into the rain and watched in dismay as trees plummeted to the ground. Claire stepped out with me.

"There it is again," she said frightfully. Rose was close behind her.

"Oh my god," Rose breathed. I backed up and stood closer to them.

_Flashback_

_ "Anna Pace, Callie Georgeston, you may come in." I sighed as my mother and I's names were called. I really did not want to see _him._ But my mom made us come here anyway, much to my displeasure. I stood up walking towards the heavily guarded visiting room of the jail._

_ Then I saw him, my stupid, cocky, son-of-a-bitch father. He smirked at my mother and me and bowed his head slightly. "What a pleasure to see you two again," he said in his smooth voice. It made me sick. My mother glared and sat down at the table, as did I._

_ "You must know why we're here, Sam," she said seriously. My father no longer had a trace of a smile on his face and looked serious also._

_ "Actually, no I don't. Care to inform me?"_

_ "We're here to bail you out and then take you back to America where you're free to do whatever the hell you want to." I said, meaning it, but in a sarcastic voice. He was speechless for a moment until he responded._

_ "Don't do that," he practically whispered._

_ "What?" my mother said._

_ "I don't want to go back to America. I don't want to get out of this place. At least not yet." He sounded completely crazy right now._

_ "Sam, do they have you on medications or something?" my mother asked in disbelief. _

_ "I'm serious, Anna. I'm not going back," he said firmly. My mother took a minute to absorb this in but eventually nodded._

_ "Alright then. Ha-Have fun here I guess. Bye, Sam." My mother and I stood up and I offered a small nod goodbye towards him. He smiled back and I looked away uncomfortably, following my mother out the door._

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_Dani_

It stopped raining after a while and I pulled myself from under a tree, thankful for its shelter. I stepped out into the sunlight, enjoying its heat against my wet skin. Looking down at my light brown arm, I noticed that the cuts I had received from the crash were healing rapidly.

I lay down in the sand, closing my eyes to keep the sun only on my skin. Jack, Charlie and the woman with them (whose name I had found out to be Kate) had been gone most of the day and I was starting to get a little worried. What if they didn't come back? _I really have to stop being so negative,_ I thought.

"Hey, I think they're back," a voice from above me said. I opened my eyes only to see a set of bright blue ones.

"Hmm?" I asked groggily, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. Boone grinned and offered me a hand up. I stretched and took it.

"Jack, Kate and Charlie. They're back."

"And what exactly is that?" I asked him, gesturing to the commotion coming from the crowd we were headed towards.

"Another day on Mystery Island," Boone replied. I smiled.

When we got up to the crowd, I saw that there were two men fighting. As I got closer, I recognized one as Sayid. The other was a blonde man whom I did not know. They were really going at it in their fight, throwing punches as hard as they could at each other.

I saw Jack, Kate and Charlie emerge from the jungle and start running over to where the fight was. Jack and Michael broke the fight up, Jack grabbing the blonde man away and Michael seizing Sayid. They struggled to get away from their grasps to try to fight again.

"I'm sick of this redneck!" Sayid shouted.

"You want some more of me?" the other man shouted back in a slight Southern drawl, still struggling.

"Tell everyone what you told me!" Neither one was lowering their tone one bit. "Tell them that _I _crashed the plane! Go on!"

"If the shoe fits, buddy!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Jack broke in, still holding the struggling blonde man. He released the man and asked his question again. Michael released Sayid to hand Jack a pair of handcuffs.

"My kid found these in the jungle," he explained. Calming down slightly, the blonde man pointed his finger towards Sayid.

"And this man was sitting in the back of the business class the whole flight. Never got up. Hands folded under his blanket. And for some crazy reason-- I'm just pointing this out—the guy sitting next to him didn't make it."

"Thank you so much for observing my behavior," Sayid shot back.

"You don't think I didn't see them take you out of line before we boarded?" They started to charge at each other once again, and Jack and Michael had to hold them back once more as they shouted at each other again. This was _crazy_.

Finally, the Kate woman yelled, "Stop!" Sayid put up his hands in defeat and the other man glared at Jack and then at Kate, his blue eyes boring into them both.

"We found the transceiver, but it's not working. Can anybody help?" she managed.

There was a pause and then Sayid said, "Yes. I might be able to."

Instantly, the man cut in, as if he hasn't had enough of the fight. "Oh yeah, great! Perfect! Let's trust this guy!"

"Hey," Hurley started, "we're all in this together, man. Let's all try to treat each other with a little respe-"but the man cut him off.

"Shut up, Lardo!" Who'd this guy think he was? Hurley just stared at him.

"Hey," Jack began, walking up to the man, "give it a break." The man looked angry but a lot less than he had been before.

"Whatever you say, Doc, you're the hero." With that, he walked off. Everyone else stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. Boone was the first to break the silence, walking up to Jack.

"You guys found the cockpit?" Jack nodded and Boone continued. "Were there any survivors?

Jack shook his head, "No."

"It's a dual-band. Military spec," Sayid said, investigating the transceiver. "Chances are the battery is good, but the radio is dead."

"Can you fix it?" Kate asked.

"I would need some time." Kate nodded and Sayid walked off also. This is when I also decided to walk away, not in favor of the tension still in the air. I sat off to the side wanting to be alone. Lucky, I had found a pen this morning. I took the pen and my journal out and start to write away.

I wrote about the people I had met so far and what I thought of them. I gave short descriptions also and wrote about what had happened from this morning up until now. I had already written about the crash when I first found the pen. When I was done, I leaned back against the tree and relaxed.

_Flashback_

_ I was finally finished packing and I sat down on the hotel bed, looking around the room for anything that I could have possibly forgotten. The room was cleared out from my stuff and I smiled. I was flying back to Italy today and I was so glad about it._

_ I walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind me and walked down to the elevator. I got to the lobby and sat down in one of the chairs, waiting for the airport shuttle bus. I remembered to hand back my key and check out and so I did._

_ I checked out and gave the man at the counter my key. He looked up. "Are you Daniella S. Moretti, staying in room 423?" I nodded."You have a letter." He handed a letter to me and I took it, a little surprised._

_ I sat down in a chair and looked at the back. It was from my college. I opened it eagerly and my eyes widened as I read the words._

_ They loved my article…they said it was good enough to be published…they wanted me to get it published in Los Angeles…all I could think was wow. I pulled out the other piece in the envelope, a plane ticket. Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, California. They gave me an address to a publisher of a newspaper. _

_ My reaction was slow but finally I smiled and laughed. I was only on my second year in college and already I was getting an article that I wrote published! Only seniors get to do that! I smiled as I saw the shuttle bus come and hopped on, happily heading to the airport._

I heaved a sigh when I heard Boone and Shannon shouting at each other. I wondered if this is what it will be like all the time with these two here. I got up from my tree and started to walk off to another part of the beach, until I heard the conversation in which Shannon and Boone had joined. They were leaving to get a signal for the transceiver. I wanted to go. I ran up to Kate.

"Hey!" Kate turned to face me as I ran. "Can I come with you?"

"Sure," she said and I followed the group (consisting of Sayid, Kate, Boone, Shannon, Charlie and Callie, so far).

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_Callie_

I walked next to my uncle, following the transceiver group. I'm surprised they let me go with only a bit of questions asked. I didn't think that they would want someone my age going. We passed the blonde man from the fight and I took a short glance at him. He was looking at our group, a piece of paper in his hands.

We continued to walk further into the jungle. I wasn't that afraid with such a large group, but I was a little nervous. You never know what could pop out. Someone appeared next to me and walked more towards the front and as I got a look at the back of his head, I could tell it was that same Southerner.

"Decided to join us?" Kate asked, surprised. He now walked in front of her.

"I'm a complex guy, sweetheart," he said shortly, continuing to take the lead.

The hike was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The mountains we had to climb up were almost straight up. We had vines, ledges and each other only to help us out. Charlie stayed close behind me often helping me up further. I also followed closely behind Kate. I didn't dare glace down to see how the people behind me were doing. I was too afraid to.

After what seemed like forever, we were in a flat place with only grass and trees. Thank god.

"Ok, wide open space. You should check the radio. See if we're good," the blonde man, whose name was Sawyer, said. He was now in the back.

"We're not going to have any reception here," Sayid said impatiently.

"Just try it." Oh, here it goes again. This is going to be another fight between them. By the looks on everyone else's face, they were thinking the same thing.

"I don't want to waste the batteries."

"I'm not asking you to keep it on all day."

"We're still blocked by the mountain."

"Just check the damn radio!" Sawyer started yelling.

"If I just check," Sayid shouted back, "we might not have enough juice left for when we get to--"he was cut off sharply by a sudden rumble. All of us froze and looked towards the front, scared.

The grass made crumbling sounds and whatever was there, was moving towards us. Shannon let out a whimper.

"What the hell's that?" Boone questioned. After a pause, Kate answered.

"Something's coming."

"Coming towards us, I think?" Charlie said.

"Let's move!" Kate said louder now and more frightened. Most of us started running but Shannon just stood there shrieking, until being led away by Boone. Sawyer, I noticed, wasn't following us. Noticing this also, Kate turned back.

"SAWYER! COME ON!" she shouted back.

"Let him go!" Sayid shouted back, trying to get her away from whatever was coming. I stopped too and watched Sawyer.

"Callie! Don't stop!" Charlie yelled but I remained in my place. As Charlie ran back to get me, I watched as Sawyer pulled out a gun and shot at whatever was coming. Where did he get the gun? Everyone seemed to stop now, at hearing the gunshots.

Whatever it was fell in front of Sawyer. He was staring in shock at it. I ran to him and finally saw what it was. It was….a bear. A giant white bear. I stared at it like Sawyer as the others came. They were just as shocked.

"That's…That's a big bear," Kate stated.

"You think that's what killed the pilot?" Boone asked. Charlie had told me that the pilot was still alive when they found him, but the 'thing' from the jungle had killed him. Kate looked back at Charlie, obviously wishing that he hadn't said anything about that.

"That? No, "he answered, "No, that's a tiny, teeny version compared to that."

There was a pause before Kate spoke, "Guys, this isn't just a bear. It's a polar bear."

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_Dani_

"That can't…be a polar bear." Boone said, shaking his head. I was still staring at it. It _was _a polar bear. What was a polar bear doing in the jungle?

"It's a polar bear," several people said at the same time.

"Wait a minute," Shannon cut in, "polar bears don't usually live in the jungle."

"Spot on," Charlie said.

"Then why is it here?" Callie asked.

"I don't know. No, uh, polar bears don't live this far south," Sayid said, confused.

"This one does," I said, speaking for the first time since our 'journey' started.

"Did," Sawyer stated firmly, walking around us. "It did." Kate looked at him.

"Where did that come from?" she asked Sawyer.

"Probably Bear Village. How the hell do I know?" he replied.

"Not the bear, the gun." It took me until know to fully realize that he actually had a gun. Where did he get that?

He stared her down for a minute. "I got it off one of the bodies."

"One of the bodies." Sayid's voice was disbelieving. How many times could they possibly fight?

"Yeah, one of the bodies," Sawyer said in a short tone.

"People don't carry guns on planes," Shannon glared.

"They do if their U.S. Marshal, sweet cheeks. There was one on the plane-"Kate cut him off.

"How do you know that?" She almost sounded scared.

"Cause I saw a guy lying there with an ankle holster-so I took the gun. Thought it might come in handy; guess what? I just shot a bear!" he explained point to the bear on the last sentence.

"Why do you think he was a Marshal?"

"Cause he had a clip on badge." He took out a silver badge, sounding a little frustrated. "I took that too. Thought it was cool."

"I know who you are," Sayid interrupted. "You're the prisoner."

"I'm the what?"

"You found a gun on a US Marshal? Yes, I believe you did. You knew it was there because you were the one he was bringing back to the States. Those handcuffs were on you. That's how you knew there was a gun."

"Piss off!" Sawyer exclaimed beginning yet another argument.

"That's who you are, you son-of-a-bitch!"

"Be suspicious of me as I am of you!"

"You accuse me, but _you _are the prisoner!"

"Fine! I'm the criminal, you're the terrorist. We can all play a part!" This was starting to get out of hand again as he turned to Shannon. "Who do you want to be?" He was cut off as Kate pulled the gun out of his pants and pointed it towards Sawyer.

"Does anybody know how to use a gun?" she asked her voice calm.

"I think you just pull the trigger," Callie instructed, her arms folded across her chest.

"Don't use the gun," Sayid said, glancing at Callie.

"I want to take it apart." Everyone seemed to calm down at this and Sayid gave her instructions. When she was done, she gave the useless gun back to an amused Sawyer. I blocked out their conversation.

We continued to walk after a while. It was mostly uphill from where we were at but not steep, luckily. We walked for a while and then Sayid started to pull out the transceiver as we walked. Sawyer noticed this and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, _now _it's a good time to check the radio. Not before, but now," he began. Enough with arguing! My head was about to explode from listening to these two.

"We're up higher," was Sayid's only reply.

"Yes, we are." Sawyer's tone was the same.

Then Sayid must have said something, because a couple of the others turned around to face him. I did as well. He was staring at the screen of the radio, excited and repeated himself. This time I heard it. We had gotten a bar on the radio! The rest of us raced up to him.

He fiddled around with the buttons trying to contact someone. All that came from the radio was a screech. But that was good apparently. Sawyer continued to be doubtful and started to argue again, but Sayid was too caught up with the radio. We all listened carefully huddled in a circle around Sayid.

"We can't transmit because something else is already transmitting," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"Transmitting from where?" Charlie said.

"Somewhere close. The signal is strong," Sayid answered. I started to feel hopeful, as did the rest.

"Close? You mean like here on the island? That's good right?" Callie asked hopefully.

"Maybe its other survivors," Boone suggested.

"From _our_ plane? How-"Shannon started.

"What kind of transmission is it?" Sawyer asked, still sounding doubtful. Sayid replied with names of possible transmissions. Kate then asked if we could listen to it, and Sayid tried to get a frequency.

"There's no transmission," Sawyer disagreed. I smiled slightly when Kate told him to shut up. Charlie then insisted that it was the rescue party. We all stopped when there was a sudden frantic voice. It was a woman's voice, speaking in French. I knew exactly what she was saying, and it was not good.

"That's French! The French are coming! I've been so happy to hear the French!" Charlie exclaimed with a huge smile and a couple people, including Sayid, laughed along with him. My face stayed as hard as stone.

"Does anybody speak French?" Kate asked. I raised my hand and Boone pointed towards Shannon.

"What? I don't speak French!"

"What the hell are you talking about? You spent a year in Paris!"Boone shouted at his sister.

"Drinking! Not studying!" she shouted back. I was starting to get angry. Seriously, enough!

"Shut up!" I yelled. Everyone looked at me surprised. I blushed, a little embarrassed but continued firmly. "Stop arguing already! I think we've all had enough from those two!" I gestured to Sayid and Sawyer, angrily and I sighed rubbing my temples to calm myself.

A man's voice then came from the radio. "Iteration one seven two nine four five three one." I didn't have a clue what that meant. Sayid started to worry…the batteries were dying. Boone continued to pressure Shannon about her language skills and Sayid looked to me.

"You said you speak French?" he asked. I nodded and held out my hand for the radio. He gave it to me and I pressed my ear against it. I let out a shaky breath as I tried to listen to it but people kept interrupting it.

"It's repeating," I said. Sayid explained how that's what iteration meant to the others while I tried to do my best to listen to it. I could barely hear it. Sayid did math in his head on how many times it had been repeating. I was starting to get frantic. I finally pressed it up to my ear again and concentrated only on the voice.

"S-s-she's saying, 'Please. Please help me. P-please come get me." I felt tears coming to my eyes and I let out another shaky breath as the message repeated, finally hearing the beginning of it. "'I'm all alone now. I'm on the island alone. Please someone come. The others, they're…t-t-they're dead. It killed them. I-I-it killed them all." I stopped and looked at the radio. It was dead. I gave it back to Sayid with a shaky hand.

There was complete silence around us. "Sixteen years." We all turned to Sayid.

"What?" Sawyer's voice came. I wasn't looking at anybody. Just at the ground.

"Sixteen years, five months and nine days. That's the count."

"What are you talking about?" Callie asked.

"The iterations. It's a distress call, a plea for help, a mayday. If the counter is right, then it has been playing over and over for sixteen years."

We let this sink in for a moment. Then Boone asked, "Someone else was stranded here?"

"Maybe they came for them," Kate suggested, obviously trying to stay positive, but Sawyer had to ruin it.

"If someone came, then why is it still playing?" he asked. There was a long pause, with only the sounds of our scared breathing. We were all pretty much thinking the same thing. We weren't going to survive. No one would come for us and we would all get killed out here. Finally, Charlie spoke the question that was on everybody's minds.

"Guys…where _are _we?"

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Thanks to Unidentified Pineapples and hodhod2011danger for reviewing! Next chapter should be up in a few days! (Already got it written, lol) Review please! :D

CaptJess :)


	3. Living on the Island

'**Ello! I had trouble with chapter, I must say. I didn't know what to write! But finally, I just decided to make it kind of an interactive-kinda chapter where my characters bond with others. I hope it's good! :)**

**And about the finale, just...wow. I can't even begin to explain how absolutely incredible and amazing I thought it was. It was the PERFECT ending, in my opinion. Like, it was like a puzzle, where no other piece could have fit it. But my absolute favorite thing about it is the very end; how it ended with the beginning only in an opposite way and with the plane and the Miles, lol. I thought that was so brilliant. Just...wow! I won't spoil too much, in case there are people that haven't seen it yet, but I'm am kinda sad that Jack/Kate and Sawyer/Juliet are 'soul-mates'. Uh, no…just, just no. SAWYER/KATE ALL THE WAY! (*cough* Ahem). Well, technically there is still a chance of Skate in the real world, since both are still alive and together. :D**

**Now, on with the chappie!**

Chapter 3, Day 2-3

_Callie_

We were moving pretty fast now, trying to get back to our camp as soon as we could. The sky was darkening. There was no way we could make it back before sundown.

"It's getting dark," Boone commented.

"Then pick up the pace," Sawyer said, still being a total jackass. Although, he wasn't annoying me like he was to most others. I actually kind of liked having him around.

"Hick," Boone said, more to himself, but everyone managed to hear it.

"A little louder?" Sawyer threw right back. Man, he could not get along with _anybody._ They glared at each other for a second.

Sayid suggested that we make camp here to rest for the night. I was with him on this one. The jungle was scary and whatever ever creepy monstrous animal was out there, ripping trees right outta their roots; well, I did not want to be in its path.

"I'm not stopping. Y'all have a nice cookout," he said. Sayid turned back to him.

"Excellent. Walk through the jungle in the dark."

"Ooooh. You think the big scary trees are gonna get us?" Sawyer mocked, turning around.

"No. What is knocking down the trees will get you."

"You're so worried about me, how about you give me the clip back?" he pulling out the empty gun from his back pocket.

"Put your gun back in your pants, Sawyer," Kate ordered. Sawyer grinned, but he did so. "Sayid is right. If we keep walking, we won't make it back to the beach."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

Kate paused for a moment. "Trust me," she finally said. Sawyer took a moment to look at her until he nodded and walked back towards our group. We all helped with making our camp for the night. Sayid, Dani, Boone and Shannon helped make a fire while the rest of us set up places to sleep. When it had gotten completely dark, we huddled around the fire.

My fellow survivors and I all listened intently as Sayid explained what happened to us and our plane. The pilot had lost communication with the ground about half way in and that's when he got the brilliant idea to head for Fiji, without anyone knowing. Then, crash.

"The pilot said we were over a thousand miles off course," Kate said softly.

"Yeah but, they'll find us," Charlie said. "They've got satellites in space that can take a picture of your license plate."

"If only we were all wearing license plates," Sayid responded shaking his head.

"Well aren't you the pessimist."

"Basic photography," Sayid explained, "point and shoot. Satellites can shoot but they must be told where to point."

"Oh. Bollocks," Charlie said, disappointed. I used to laugh all the time when my mom would say that, or any of her other British fancy words. The situation currently seemed too serious to actually laugh now, though.

"Ok, really enjoyed the puppet show. Fantastic. So we're stuck in the middle of damned nowhere. How about we talked about the other damned thing?" Sawyer said. "The transmission Abdul picked up on his l'il radio? You know, where the French chick said that said they're all dead. And the transmission has been on a loop for," he turned to Kate, "how long, Freckles?" I've noticed by now that he tended to give everybody their own nicknames. Mine was currently Hot Shot. I rolled my eyes.

As did Kate when she replied, "Sixteen years."

"Right. Let's talk about _that_."Everyone looked around, waiting for someone to say something.

"Well," Dani started, "we need to tell the others when we get back." Boone nodded.

"Tell them what, exactly?" Shannon said coldly, narrowing her eyes at Dani.

"Tell them what we heard," Dani shot back. They obviously didn't like each other much. Although from what I observed, Dani seemed to like Shannon's brother very much (winkwink).

"We're not going to tell them anything," Sayid stated, and we all looked at him. "To relay what we heard without fully understanding it will cause a panic. People don't like questions they don't have answers to. If we tell them what we know, we take away their hope. And hope…hope is a very dangerous thing to lose."

We looked around, silently agreeing. "So we lie," Kate said, ending the conversation. We sat in silence for a while before starting to head back to our own sleeping places. I never left the fire. I stared into it, letting my thoughts wander.

_Flashback_

_ Sixteen year old Anna Pace ran up to the door of her house, unlocking it as quickly as she could._

_ "Anna, please just stop! Come back here, now!" her mother shouted at her. Anna ignored her opening the door and slamming it behind her. She raced up the stairs, hearing her mother opening the door and running after her._

_ Anna reached her bedroom and also slammed that one behind her too. A minute later, she heard her mother struggling to get in._

_ "Anna, open this door right now!" she shouted at her daughter._

_ "No! Just go away!" Anna shouted back. Her parents hated her. She could see it in their eyes every time they looked at her. _

_ "God, you are the most stubborn, selfish person I have ever met! Why can you be more like your brothers?" See? Anger flared up in Anna's eyes and she yanked the door open._

_ "That is exactly why I am like this to you! You don't care about me! You hate me! You are absolutely disgusted by me! Don't shake your head, I can tell every time you look at me!"_

_ "Anna, stop this right now. You are being a ridiculous brat!" Her mother angrily stated._

_ "See? You just basically said it! You refuse to deny it and then you call me a brat! Well, screw you!" she slammed the door again. Her mother banged on her door and shouted her name a couple times before huffing and walking away. It had always been like this. Even as a five year old child, she could tell they, mostly her mother, just didn't like her at all. What had she done wrong? Well, it didn't matter now. She was secretly leaving to America tomorrow and no one could stop her. Not even her brothers, the only ones that truly cared about her._

_ She looked up when she heard a knock on her door. "Anna, it's me." She smiled when she heard her ten year old brother speak._

_ "Come in, Charlie." Her brother opened the door and stood in the doorway._

_ "Are you really leaving, Annie," he said softly. She had told her brothers about her leaving already. She had them promise not to tell a soul. She nodded. He immediately race over to her and they embraced._

_ She stroked his hair and whispered, "I will come and visit you and Liam once you're older. And remember, I'm only a call away." Charlie nodded against her and she smiled as she felt her other brother Liam, only two years older than Charlie, hug her side._

I yawned. It was late, and I should probably start to get some sleep. It wasn't a very far journey back from here, but it still took energy to even walk. And I felt like I was about to pass out.

I looked around. Some people were falling asleep already and some were just getting settled. I felt someone sit next to me and I looked over to see my uncle.

"Exhausting day, huh?" he said. I nodded heavily, rubbing my eyes a bit.

"I bet some people regret having me along. You know, reveal a mere fourteen year old to all this danger and worry. Some of them look at me like they expect me to run off screaming at any time. But I'm not going anywhere," I explained.

"I wouldn't _let_ you go anywhere," Charlie said. I smiled and nodded. "It's late you should sleep."

"That's just what I was planning to do," I said. Charlie followed me to where we were staying for the night. I bid him a goodnight and fell asleep.

_Dani_

I fell asleep quickly, exhausted by all of the walking we had done. It was almost too much to take in, all that we had found out. Sayid was right about people losing hope. My hope was sure gone.

I was woken up by Sayid saying, "What are you doing?" I opened my eyes and sat up to see Sayid and Boone facing each other. Boone had tried to take Sayid's gun. And succeeded.

And of course, more arguing. Over a stupid gun. This was just getting ridiculous. If we couldn't agree on anything, how were we supposed to live together until we got rescued?

"We should give it to her," Callie said, gesturing to Kate. Everyone stopped to look at Kate, considering this. Kate looked surprised.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "Kate should hold the gun."

"Fine with me," Sayid said, staring at Boone. "Well?" Boone looked down at the ground, not wanting to give it up. He looked back up and around, meeting eyes with me and realizing that he was outnumbered. He reluctantly walked to Kate and handed her the gun.

The next morning, we woke up and immediately started walking back. Everybody was silent along the trip. It seemed like forever until we finally reached our camp. When we got back people crowded around us, eager for good news, or just any news at all.

Sayid explained how we were not able to make a transmission and how we failed to pick up a signal. It felt kinda bad lying but I knew it was to keep everyone calm. He described how we could boost the signal using electronic devices. He organized three groups: food rationing, water and electronics. Uninterested, I walked away from the group. As I walked, Claire approached me.

"Hey, Dani," she greeted with a smile. I smiled back.

"Hello, Claire."

"I found something you might like to have. Follow me." She led me to where her small tent was and held her hand out to something. She grabbed onto it and held it in front of her. It was my suitcase and my purse. "Ta da!"

"Oh, you found them! Thank you so much Claire! How did you find them?" I exclaimed, hugging her.

"You're welcome! I was looking through the luggage and came across yours. Lucky it had your name on it or else I wouldn't have known whose it was," she smiled back at again. She was truly probably the nicest person I had met here so far. I sat down with her and told her about the trip and how exhausting it was. She listened, nodding along.

Once I was done talking to Claire, I walked off. I tried to decide what to do next. I thought about the night and how I would need something same to sleep in. That's it! I could make a tent of my own.

Well, that didn't work out too well. By the time I was done attempting to make a tent for myself, there was a pile of tent-supplies at my feet and certainly no tent in front of me. So much for making a tent.

Instead, I took out my journal and a pen and started writing down what had happened on the trip. I explained every single detail in the best way I could. I blushed as I caught myself writing about how gorgeous I thought Boone's eyes were. I scribbled that out, but reconsidered and wrote it down again, continuing. It was my thought nevertheless.

I saw the Korean couple that I had seen on the first day here. The Korean woman caught me looking at her and I smiled. She smiled back, but only for a minute. I should try to get to know them. I do speak Korean, after all. I speak many different languages.

I got up and started walking towards them. "Hello," I greeted with a smile, in English first. The woman looked at me again and smiled. Her husband didn't even bother to look up.

"What are your names?" I asked, this time in Korean. Both the woman and the man looked up at me in shock at hearing their own language.

"My name is Sun," the woman finally replied also in Korean, after letting the fact that I speak her language set in. She smiled and held out her hand. I shook it. "This is my husband Jin." The man had looked away by now. Not social much, I guess.

"I'm Dani," I greeted. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," she said kindly, glancing behind her. Her husband was gone now, wanting nothing to do with the conversation. Kinda rude.

"Not social much, is he?" I asked. She looked back at me and shook her head.

"At least not here, he isn't." She looked off, seeming a little sad. She looked back again. "I noticed you left with the group going to get a signal from the transceiver. I could not understand what that man was saying. Do you mind explaining?" I nodded and told her about the trip we took and what had happened.

Sun seemed fairly nice and I felt sorry that she couldn't understand anything that was going on, considering almost no one spoke Korean. When I was finished, we talked for a while longer and then I left. I looked for something else to do. I smiled when I saw Charlie and Claire laughing together, him helping her lift luggage. But I on the other hand did not finding anything to do, so I returned to the sand and lied down.

_Flashback_

_Nine year old Dani_

_ I sat in the front seat of my mother's new car, looking around my new home. We had just moved to America after my parents had gotten divorced. I was being forced to move from my home in Italy._

_ It was awful in my opinion. I only spoke Italian and I had no clue what people around here were saying. Neither did my mother, but she pretended like she did. I sighed and kept my gaze out the window. I heard my mother look at me._

_ "Now, Daniella, it's not so bad," she tried to comfort me, speaking in Italian. My only reply was another sigh. She shook her head and looked back at the road. _

_ "We'll both go in speech classes before I start work and you start school. We'll be experts in two languages by the time you do. You can impress everybody in school by speaking both," she tried to excite me. It wasn't working. I rolled my eyes and looked at her pretty brown colored face. She got the point that nothing she could say could convince me that this would be a great experience, moving to America._

_ "Am I ever going to see dad again?" I asked. My father was still back in Italy. My mom had gotten the custody rights or whatever. _

_ "Of course you will, sweetie. You will get to visit him at least once a year," she reassured. This made it even worse._

_ "Once a year? Mom!" I exclaimed. A year is a long time! She looked back with an apologetic look._

_ "I'm sorry, honey, but I don't have the kind of money to send you any more than that."_

_ "Well, you wouldn't have to if you stayed together," I said harshly. She sighed, not knowing what to say and faced forward again, continuing to our new house._

Taking a bite of my fresh mango, I stared out at the ocean. It truly was beautiful, no matter what condition we were in. After we get off this island though, I don't think I could go to one again too soon. After being stranded on one for nearly three days, the ocean scenery was so familiar that it felt like I've lived on one my whole life.

"Hello," said a man's voice behind me. I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly looked behind me. I recognized the older man, but I've never met him before. I felt bad that I'd never taken the time to at least say hi to him.

"Hello," I replied, nodding at him.

"Do you mind if I sit?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Go ahead."

After a moment of silence, the man pointed out to the ocean that I had been staring at. "It's beautiful isn't it? It's been a while since I've been to a beach. I never took the time to." I nodded again.

"Yeah, it is. I just wish that we were on a beach that's not on a deserted island," I said, smiling. He smiled back.

"My name's John. John Locke," he introduced himself and stuck his hand out for me to shake.

"I'm Daniella Moretti. Dani," I greeted. He smiled again and after a couple minutes of no real conversation, he stood ready to leave.

"Oh, by the way, enjoy your tent," he added with a smile before leaving me there confused. Curiously, I strode to the place where the set up of my tent was and stopped in shock. It was completed. John had made the tent for me?

I intriguingly entered the tent. It wasn't that bad. I check the sides and it appeared to be sturdy. I had to remember to thank John later. I put my suitcase and backpack in there as well. I opened my suitcase, pulling out my favorite blanket. I hugged it, letting the softness of it comfort me. I set it down and took out the airplane blanket. I stood up and fluffed it out, setting it gently on the ground.

As crazy as it sounds, I also packed a few pillows into my backpack. I liked the feel of home, so I brought them with me from Italy to Australia. Who knew they would be extremely useful? Then again, who knew we would crash on a deserted island?

I took a couple of the big pillows and put them under the airplane blanket for extra comfort. I then took the smaller pillow and placed it at the top of the blanket. Finally, I put my favorite blanket on top of everything, creating a small bed for myself. I smiled in satisfactory and sat down.

I heard loud screams coming from Jack's medical tent. There was a man in there, the US Marshal apparently. Jack was trying to heal him but it didn't seem to be working, whatever he was doing. Everybody was looking back at the tent several times; all wishing Jack could do something to make him shut up. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to block out the screams.

I headed towards the nearest fire, and sat down. Nobody was around the fire, but that's ok. I didn't really feel like having people around me anyway, so of course, someone sat down next to me. Well, once again, so much for that.

My stomach gave a little flip-flop when I saw Boone. I half-heartedly smiled at him.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hello," I answered, both genuinely and just trying to be nice.

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" he asked me. I shrugged, looking down at my hands.

"I don't really have any friends here, I guess," I joked and smiled. He smiled back. Wow, his smile was really cute. Ah, shut up, Dani!

"Why are you here anyway?" he asked, seeming curious.

"I didn't really have anything better to do, so I just came out—"I started but he cut me off with a shake of his head.

"No, I mean, why are you on the island? Why were you on the plane and in Australia?" I corrected. I smiled slightly at him.

"I was doing an assignment for my studies. Writing an article on some guy that had died. He was the owner of a small company or something like that. Anyway, I had sent in the article when I was finished and when I was about to leave they sent me a letter back, praising the article. They wanted me to get it published in LA. Tickets to 815 came with the letter and, here I am." I tossed a stick into the fire as if to emphasize my point.

"I bet they feel sorry now." He smiled a little.

"I bet they do," I agreed. "What about you? What were you doing in Australia?" His smile faded.

"It's not important," he replied, all of a sudden really serious. I nodded and looked away into the ocean.

"Bad subject?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to push him too far.

"You can say that," he said after a moment's pause. I felt awkward, but I wanted to lighten the mood somehow. If only I knew how.

After a minute, we heard a gunshot and I jumped, grabbing onto the closest object; Boone's hand. I blushed and quickly pulled it away. I looked carefully over to see Boone's reaction, but he was too busy checking to see what was going on. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

From my view, I could see Sawyer walking out of the medical tent, a gun in his hand and Jack looking furiously at him, Hurley standing behind Jack. They all froze at something and ran back into the tent. This place really was crazy. I shook my head and sighed again, bidding Boone a good-bye and walked into my tent, heading to sleep.

**Hope you enjoyed it! I really can't wait to get to Season 2 and 4 and 6, lol. Season 6 is without a doubt the best season out of all of them! At least in my opinion.**

………**Skate is fate!...**

**CaptJess :)**


	4. Finally, a Leader

**Finally updated! This was supposed to take a shorter time, but I kept getting distracted. My main form of distraction was that I've been intent on writing out season 5 of this story. So…even if 1-4 won't get published quickly, 5 will! Haha! Plus, I got a new laptop for my 8****th**** grade graduation (high school next year!) so I had to transfer all the documents. And thanks very much to muzical and Unidentified Pineapples for reviewing! I've decided I'm gonna start doing review replies, so…**

**Muzical: Haha, really? Lucky. I love the name Danielle! Although, Dani's full name is Daniella, it's still close :) I miss Boone too! During the finale, my friend Jimmy was texting me and I got home late so I was behind on it. So he keeps texting me stuff like 'Omg, Shannon!'; 'Omg, Boone!'; 'Omg, Claire with a gun!'. And so, he basically gave away the fact that Boone and Shannon were in the finale :/ But it did make me more excited for it! Anyway, thanks for the review!**

**Unidentified Pineapples: Thanks much! I still have yet to figure out how I'm gonna write the Charlie's drug use thing out with Callie, but hopefully it turns out good! :) Thanks for the review!**

**I don't own Lost. Yup. Onto the story!**

Chapter 4, Day 4-6

_Callie_

Late in the night, I and pretty much every other person on the island woke to the sound of a dog barking and the clinging noises of metal. I rolled my eyes exasperatedly, rubbed them and sat up, squinting my eyes at the light of the fire. I stood in the large group of survivors currently forming.

I crossed my arms and watched as Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Charlie headed into the fuselage. There was a moment of silence where everyone was waiting for them to emerge from it, and then screams came suddenly. I ran to the safety of my tent, not bothering to see what it was that was making weird grunting sounds. It sounded like a pig to me.

I peeked out from my tent a few seconds later to see whatever it was run into the jungle and most people staring after it. I hopped out, feeling safe once again.

"They're gone," Sayid announced and Dani said something in her natural language. Italian or something.

I distinctly heard Locke say, "Boars."

"Oh great, another animal we have to deal with. As if a freaking polar bear wasn't enough," I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes again. I sighed; well I wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight.

I stayed with Jack, Kate and Sayid while Jack fixed up a deep scratch Charlie had gotten from the boars. I was starting to realize that the adults didn't really mind having me there. They had gotten used to the fact that if I wanted to do something, I was going to do it. No questions asked.

"The boars were looking to feed," Jack spoke slowly. "We have to get rid of the bodies."

"Bury them? There's a whole bunch of them," questioned Charlie. Sayid nodded.

Sayid confirmed this as well, stating how hard digging would be without shovels. Jack shook his head though. "No, not bury. We need to burn them," he replied plainly. The rest of us stared at him for a second, shocked. I shook my head as well.

"We can't burn them!" I refused.

"They're people," Kate stated incredulously.

"I know they're people, Kate," Jack responded impatiently.

"Burning the remains? They deserve better than that," said Sayid.

"Better than what? Being eaten by wild animals? Because that's what's going to happen. Any bodies we bury are not going to stay buried for very long. Look, I know this seems harsh, but that fuselage in the sun—it's not about what they deserve," intervened Jack. "They're gone, and we're not."

"What you say may be true, but for us to decide how these people are laid to rest—it's not right. No regard for their wishes? Their religions?"

"We don't have time to sort out everybody's god," argued Jack.

"Really, last I heard we were positively made of time," commented Charlie ruefully.

"Look, I'm not happy about it either," Jack started, "but we crashed a thousand miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place. It's been 4 days, no one's come. Tomorrow morning we need everyone to start gathering up wood, dried brush, and turn that fuselage into a furnace. We'll wait until the sun goes down tomorrow night before we start the fire."

Jack was about to leave, but I stopped him. "Wait, Jack," I said. He turned back to me. "If you must, burn the other bodies, but…I'm burying my mom. It's what she would have wanted, no matter the condition." Jack stared at my pleading face for a moment. "Please." I glanced back at Charlie for support, and he nodded at Jack as well.

"Alright. But just her. The rest need to be burned," Jack agreed finally. I smiled slightly and nodded in thanks. I sat back down next to Charlie when Jack left.

"If he's so eager to burn the bodies why are we waiting until sundown?" Charlie asked Kate.

"He's hoping someone will see it," Kate answered.

_Flashback_

_Anna bit her lip as she waited in line at her new school's office. She approached the front counter when it was her turn and smiled uncomfortably at the office woman._

"_Um, Faith Thomson?" Anna told her. She searched through her files on her computer and printed out a schedule. She handed it to Anna and nodded._

"_Have a nice first day, Miss Thomson," she said dully. Anna nodded again and walked quickly from the room. She examined her schedule closely as she walked, making sure she knew where her first class was. She was knocked backwards as she collided with somebody._

"_I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she apologized to whoever it was she knocked into._

"_No problem. Here, let me help you," a male voice said. She saw the guy bend down and pick up a couple of books for her. Anna collected the rest and stood as he did. She put the books back in her pack and smiled at the guy who helped her off the ground. She was shocked at how handsome he was._

"_New I'm guessing?" the guy said, his blue eyes twinkling slightly under his dirty blonde hair. Anna nodded nervously. "And British?" Anna chuckled timidly._

"_Yeah, I just moved here," she replied. "I-I'm An—Faith. F-Faith Thomson." He smiled at her calmly._

"_I'm Sam Georgeston. Welcome to the big ol' USA, LA, and the not so big school that happens to be in it," he greeted nonchalantly. Anna smiled back and nodded._

"_Thanks."_

"_See you around," Sam said and walked away, smirking back at her._

"_Yeah, see you around," Anna agreed, knowing full well that he was out of hearing range._

_Dani_

I helped the best I could to gather firewood for the memorial service tonight to burn the fuselage. I was against the idea, but there was nothing I could to about it. Sawyer typically got in a fight with someone, Hurley to be specific.

I rolled my eyes and blocked out the fight. "Oh, honestly, can you not get along with anybody?" I said to myself in Italian, but directed towards Sawyer.

I entered in on the group gathered where Sawyer and Hurley had just been fighting. John Locke was making a speech about hunting. He wanted to hunt for the boar. He had knives; a huge selection of them. That scared me a little. I didn't exactly want to be a part of this hunt for food, so I left the group, heading back to my own tent.

I don't think I've ever felt like this much of a loner. I had absolutely no one to talk to, since everyone was off doing something or talking to somebody else. I almost reconsidered not going on that boar hunt. I shook my head silently and went back outside. Three blondes coming out of the fuselage caught my eye. Charlie and Callie carried a dead blonde woman out of the broken plane and off to a small sand clearing. They were going to bury her.

I got up and headed towards them. "Do you need any help?" I asked them when I reached them. "You know, with digging or anything?" They both looked at me skeptically.

"Uh, yeah sure," Charlie replied. Callie was a little hesitant but nodded. They were using scraps of metal and broken tree branches to dig a hole. I picked up one of the scraps and helped them.

"So, who was she?" I asked politely, not wanting to offend either. Callie remained silent.

"Her name was Anna. She was my sister, her mother," Charlie responded wearily. I ruefully nodded, wishing I hadn't said anything.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I added sympathetically. Charlie smiled back at me sadly. Callie never looked up as she dug. The hole was nearly finished when we started speaking again.

"Your name is Dani right?" Charlie asked me. I looked up, surprised at the sound of a voice again.

"Yeah. That's me," I answered, looking back down so I didn't fall in the hole.

"Thought so. How old are you? You look pretty young," he asked.

"I'm eighteen, almost nineteen," I replied.

"Really? You look younger than that," he said, back to concentrating on digging the rest of the hole. I smiled slightly and nodded. "You're from Italy, right?" I nodded again and finished digging the rest of the hole. I put my scrap of metal aside and examined the scratches on my hand.

Callie took one last look at her mother and sighed, lifting her up along with Charlie and placing her gently into the grave. They said a few words about her sadly and stuck a grave marker with her name on it. I looked up at Callie when she spoke. She looked upset, but her expression was still hard and cold. We all walked away when Anna Pace was completely buried.

Callie hadn't even acknowledged me the whole time I had been there, but at last she walked up to me. "Hey, thanks," she said, with a hint of a forced smile on her face. I smiled back and nodded.

We turned out to get food after all. Locke came back, carrying a large boar well over 200 pounds. Come sundown, I headed down to the fuselage with Claire, helping her carry some of the passports and licenses. They were having a memorial. Someone lit the wood under the fuselage, and the plane lit up.

Boone stood to one side of Claire, holding a torch and Hurley stood on the other side of her. She read the names off of the identifications as several people listened to and watched her. I looked around at the group. I found Sun and I smiled at her, to which she smiled back. Callie stood next to me, but I could not find Charlie. He didn't appear until later, standing next to Kate.

After the service was over and the fuselage was in flames, I watched people leave. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I turned around to meet Boone's blue eyes.

"I'll walk you back to your tent if you want," he offered kindly. I was surprised but I grinned back and nodded slowly. It was only when we started walking when I began to wonder why he was doing this. I glanced back only to see his sister near the place where they stayed glaring as us. Well, particularly me.

Looking forward again, I noticed we were pretty close to my tent. I sighed and looked up at Boone once again. "Why are you walking me to my tent?"

He glimpsed at me once and shrugged, "I never see you with anybody, so I just thought that you'd want company or something."

"Thank you. That was nice of you," I praised, but quickly looked back at Shannon again. She had looked away by now, but she did not appear pleased. "But, uh, what about your sister?"

Boone shrugged again and after a moment's pause, replied, "Step-sister. And as surprising as it is, she can handle herself." He smiled slightly for a second time, but he flinched as he heard Shannon call his name. He rolled his eyes. "Well, at least for 5 minutes she can. I better go." Before leaving, he took my hand and kissed the back of it before retreating to his sister's side like usual.

With a gigantic blush and a flirty smile on my face, I stepped into my tent. But now I was just extremely confused. Shannon was his step-sister, as in not his real sister and I finally understood the big deal about that. But why was he acting this way around me if he was in love with Shannon?

_Flashback_

_15 year old Dani_

_I stared out the window in admiration as the plane came to a stop. I was home. "Welcome to Bologna, Italy. We hope you enjoyed your flight and that you come back and see us again!" said the flight attendant over the intercom. I stood and grabbed my travel bag. My legs were stiff from the long flight and rather cold since I was wearing black shorts._

_Eagerly, I stepped near the front of the line and eventually got off the plane. My face broke into a smile and I ran towards my father. He looked completely different from my mother; they had the whole biracial couple thing. My father was pale, dark haired and blue eyed. I ran into his arms and he spun me around a couple time. Boy, I missed him._

"_It's about time you got here. I missed you," he said, speaking Italian. I could now speak English, and I usually had to being in America, so it felt good to speak my first language again._

"_I missed you too, dad," I replied, holding back my tears. I seemed I had been crying a lot since my mom's death. She had brain cancer and had died two weeks ago. That meant I got to live with my only remaining family member, my dad._

"_How was the flight?" he asked, walking out of the airport with my luggage._

"_Long," I answered._

"_Only 8 hours," my dad commented. I laughed._

"_Only." _

"_Well can you put up with another hour in the car?"_

_I smiled and nodded. "Anything to get home." And off we went to my hometown of Mantua, Italy._

_Callie_

I kicked a mango tree angrily, hoping for the fifteenth time that fruit would fall to the ground. It never did. I cried out in frustration and gave up. Turning around, I headed back to the beach and almost tripped over something on the ground…a mango. I glared at it, but picked it up and started eating.

The days dragged on, slowly, dully, and quite boringly. It was now day 6 on the island. I suddenly heard yelling that came from down on the beach. By the time I arrived, several people had already gathered at the shoreline and were pointing towards the water. There was what looked like to people out there. Someone thrashing around and another swimming towards her. No wait; there was another…who was starting to drown!

"What happened?" I asked, approaching Charlie.

"There's someone drowning out there. Jack went to help her," Charlie explained frantically. We all watched as Jack frantically, hoping that no one would die today. Hah, how's that for positivity. Finally, we saw Jack swimming back, pulling someone along with him. But there was still another person out there.

Kate and Charlie rushed to Jack when he and other man he was pulling reached the beach. Jack rushed right back in, leaving the person he had saved on the beach. It was Boone. Jack swam back out, back into the cold ocean, but it was for nothing. Whoever was out there before, well…not anymore.

I didn't have much to do, so I just did what everyone else seemed to do. Sit around and stare at a something. God, I was so bored. I saw Claire, my new friend, and Kate sitting together and sorting through clothes it looked like. I shrugged and got up again.

"Hey, Claire, Kate," I greeted sitting down near them. The women smiled at me.

"Hi, Callie," Claire responded.

"What're you doing?" I asked curiously.

"We're sorting through the clothes. You can help if you want to," Kate offered. "This pile is the clothes we can use, and the other is clothes that are not." I nodded and took a green t-shirt from the unsorted pile.

"Let me guess, you're a Libra?" Claire asked, seemingly randomly. I looked up surprised.

"Uh, actually, yeah. How'd you know?" I answered thoughtfully. Kate smiled.

"I guess you really do understand astrology," she mused. I smirked and continued sorting. I looked out at the ocean where that one woman had died. Boone was still sitting there, staring out at the ocean. I narrowed my eyes in thought and looked back down at the shirt in my hands. Suddenly feeling weary, I dropped it into the useable pile.

_Flashback_

_2 year old Callie_

_Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all they had gone through, he was just leaving her. After three years together and having a child, he was just packing and moving to Australia, right out of the blue._

"_You just leaving? Just like that!" she shouted at her boyfriend, Sam. Sam sighed irritably._

"_Look, I'm sorry, Anna, but I just…I need to go," he replied weakly. Anna shook her head._

"_What happened to we're in this together? What happened to we'll always be together? I thought I knew you!" Anna yelled. Sam looked pure frustrated now._

"_I've changed! You've changed! Everyone changes! And you thought you knew me? I didn't even know your actual name until last year!" Sam retorted._

"_You know what, just leave," Anna stated angrily. Sam stared at her testily for a minute. "Now!" He grabbed his bag and headed right past her and out the door. Anna stared at the wall, not believing what she had just experienced. She heard crying from the other room._

_Picking up her two year old daughter, her face streamed with tears. Her daughter calmed down instantly but she kept crying silently. "We'll be alright, Callie, we'll be alright."_

_Dani_

"Are you ok?" I asked, sitting down next to Boone. He hadn't stopped staring out into the ocean since this morning, and even though I didn't know him that well, it worried me. I thought that maybe he could use a little company, like he offered to me. When he didn't answer or really even acknowledged that I was there, I went on. "Look, it wasn't your fault what happened to that girl—"

"I was fine. I was supposed to save that girl," he interrupted, still staring at the same place. I stared back at him for a couple seconds. I shook my head slowly.

"You were drowning, Boone," I said. I didn't want to upset him, but he needed to snap out of it. "If Jack hadn't—"

He cut me off once again. "Jack was just trying to be a hero. If he was truly a hero, he would have left me and saved her. I was fine." His tone was harsh and acidic, but I knew it was directed toward Jack and not me.

"Well, if being fine includes almost dying in the water, then yes, you were absolutely swell," I commented, my normal sarcastic attitude coming out. I saw what looked like frustration and regret flash through his eyes. Clearly, he wasn't a sarcastic person like me. "I just think you're overreacting." I glanced over at Boone. He didn't make any acknowledgement of what I said, so I shifted my gaze back towards the ocean.

I sighed after a while of just sitting there and started to get up. "Well, bye," I said awkwardly and started to leave. To my surprise, I saw Boone walk pass me, taking his eyes away from the ocean for the first time that day.

"Where are you going?" I spoke. He didn't stop, but he did answer me.

"To find Jack." I stopped in my tracks and watch with furrowed eyebrows as he headed down the beach. I started my own way, shaking my head slowly. The only thing I wanted now was my own home. Not this stupid beach filled with over 40 strangers.

Home, that's all I wanted.

_Callie_

I was worried sick about Claire. She had passed out randomly when I was talking to her. She had woken up, but there was no water to give to her. Someone had stolen the rest of the water. As he should be, Sawyer was a suspect, but according to Sayid, he didn't take it. I said a big 'yeah right', to that. I mean, it was _Sawyer_. He took everything.

I sat next to Claire at some point in the afternoon, patiently waiting for her to wake up. I heard her groan silently and her head turned. Her eyes opened slowly and I smiled genially at her. She smiled back, somewhat weakly.

"How do you feel, Claire?" I asked her. I took her a minute to think but she eventually answered me.

"I'm all right, I think. I feel a little dizzy though…and thirsty," she replied softly.

"Charlie's getting water. Any that we can find…besides from the ocean. I can't imagine that'd taste too good," I reassured her. She chuckled quietly. "The rest are hunting down the 'criminal' that took the water. So, really it's ordinary day here on mysterious island." She laughed again, but didn't say anything.

She ultimately fell asleep again and, being bored, I wandered around some more. God, I hate this place. Nothing to do, nothing to do.

That night, we sat in our normal groups around separate fires. I was next to a still resting Claire, and trying to fight off the drowsiness that was over coming me. I used to stay up so much later than this. I don't understand why I couldn't on this island. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings until I saw someone fall to the ground. Once again, it was Boone.

"Here's your thief," I heard Charlie declare angrily. I stood up, interested, as Charlie and Michael stared down at Boone, who had his face in the sand. I glanced over at Claire, who looked a little concerned and shocked.

"Where did he hide it?" asked Michael. I stormed over to where my uncle and Michael were standing, anger washing over me. Sure, Boone was hot; doesn't mean that I won't kick his ass if I get the chance.

"_You_ took the water?" I questioned incredulously.

"This wanker had three bottles on him. Why'd you do it, pretty boy, eh?" Charlie demanded, pushing Boone backwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dani step forward; looking worried to where the fight was going.

"It was just sitting in—it was just sitting in the tent, and Jack just took off," Boone explained, almost sounding frantic. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Gee, ever try to think of other people?" I mocked, my voice rising by the word.

"Claire could have died!" Charlie cried.

"I tried to give her some sooner, but it just got out of hand. No one would have understood," Boone retorted, his voice rising slightly. I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth. I was getting annoyed by now. I tried to calm myself down, knowing that if I let myself get too angry, it would not turn out good. And not only because I had a very bad temper, but…well, it's hard to explain at the moment.

"Someone had to take responsibility for it. It would have never lasted." I have to admit, I was glad when Charlie pushed Boone once more, although I heard Dani, Claire and several other gasp. The scuffle began again. Sayid stepped in as did a few other men, trying to pull the two apart.

"Leave him alone," Jack said, stepping forward in the crowd. My eyes only narrowed more when he all of a sudden appeared. He had been gone the whole day, and quite frankly, I was not happy with him at all. He reached out a hand and pulled Boone to his feet.

"Well, how nice of you to show up!" I cried sarcastically. My voice had a sharp edge to it._ Calm down, calm down, calm down_. Jack gave me a weary glance and continued to what he was saying.

"It's been 6 days and we're all still waiting; waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning just going for a swim and he tried to save her, and now you're about to crucify him? We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here.

"Now, I found water. Fresh water, up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to go, come then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers, but we're all here now. And God knows how long we're going to be here. But if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."

I didn't look at Jack as I listened to his speech, but I remained silent along with everyone else. No one knew what to say. Well, whaddaya know? Jack pulled through as a leader after all. It doesn't mean I was going to all of a sudden start liking him, because to be honest, I never really did; but he had gained my respect. He was right.

I helped the best I could with the water situation, and after I was done, I just hung out like I always did. I had to sometimes remind even myself that I was only fourteen (almost fifteen, thank you). Come to think of it, I was the youngest person here besides Walt. People didn't seem to think about my age anymore and seemed to treat me more like an adult than anything, which I was thankful for.

I saw Boone sitting by himself, and I briefly felt bad for what I said to him; _briefly._ "So, how does it feel?" I heard Sawyer say smugly.

"How does what feel?" Boone replied impartially.

"Taking my place at the top of everyone's most hated list. Sucks, don't it?" Sawyer mocked, grinning impishly. I rolled my eyes and looked over at him.

"Sawyer," I started. He looked up at me, a snide grin still on his face. "Shut up." His grin merely widened.

"You're the one to talk, Lioness," he remarked. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Is that my new nickname?"

"What can I say?" he answered cheekily, still grinning. "You've got quite a temper there."

I smirked, looking slightly wistful. "Yeah…I know, "I said slowly. I stared into the fire, the traces of any kind of humor in my face fading. So, everyone had noticed my big temper. But they didn't know how bad it could get.

They didn't know the half of it.

**Mystery! Bahaha! Review please!**

**CaptJess :) **


	5. We All Have Our Own Problems

**Ok, I am very excited for this chapter! It reveals a lot about Callie that I've been dying to write, and there's a little Boone/Dani in this chapter! Also, these are Dani and Callie's last flashbacks for a while. Once I get to season 2, I'll have flashbacks for my new character and same applies for Season 3 with my 'Other' characters. Season 4, I'll do flash-forwards for the 2 characters of my own that get off the island, and in Season 5: flashbacks of Dharmaville. Finally, Season 6…flash-sideways! **

**And before I give away too much of my story, I'd like to thank DannyTheLostie and Unidentified Pineapples for reviewing last chapter! I hope you all like this chapter, cause this is my favorite that I've written so far! :D**

**I only own Callie, Dani, Anna and any future characters I add in! MINE!…..Hehe. Lost belongs to Damon, Carlton and others and not me. (*grumble*grumble*)**

Chapter 5, Day 7-8

_Dani_

_Flashback_

_I rested my bags on the ground and sat down on my bed one last time. I looked wistfully around the room. This is the last time I'll be here in nearly four months. I was going to miss my house._

_I stood and grabbed my packed bags once more. I closed the door slowly behind me and walked down the hall. My dad was waiting for me at the front door. My new college was all the way in Rome; across the country! He was going to drop me off at the airport, and then…that's it. _

_When we arrived at the airport, we both reluctantly got out of the car. I sighed and pushed back my curly hair, facing my dad. We hugged each other tightly._

"_I can't believe my little girl is going to college," he said. "It seems like just yesterday—"_

"_Dad, no baby stories," I cut him off with a laugh. He smiled and kissed my forehead._

"_Be careful, be safe, don't make too weird of friends, and learn something, ok?" he told me. I smiled and nodded, hugging him one last time._

"_Bye, Dad. Love you," I said, starting to walk away. He smiled back._

"_Love you too. Have fun." I got inside the busy loud airport and turned to watch my dad drive off._

I jumped when I heard the screams of a couple people at the beach. Worriedly, I looked up to see some kind of commotion, as usual. I quickly stood up and ran towards the beach. Sun's husband was randomly beating up Michael; and trying to drown him! I put my hands over my mouth as punch after punch was thrown.

Both Sun and Walt screamed for Jin to stop, but he didn't. I hurried to the side when I saw Sawyer and Sayid racing towards them and broke the fight up, in the typical guy-like manner; tackling. I moved closer to Sun, trying to stay as far out of the way as possible.

"Sun, what happened?" I asked her in Korean. She didn't reply as she watched her husband being handcuffed to a part of the plane. Sayid asked too, but she didn't understand him. Lastly, he questioned Michael.

"I'm getting tired of saying this," Michael started, after he explained a few times already. "I was just walking the beach with my son, and all of the sudden this dude is all up on me. I didn't do anything."

"Shut up!" Jin yelled in Korean. Sun and I shared a glance, while the rest had tense stares.

"Surely there must be something you're not telling us," Sayid reasoned. I switched my attention towards Michael, who looked quite frustrated.

"Surely?" Michael repeated. "Where are you from, man?"

"Tikrit," Sayid replied stiffly. "Iraq."

"Okay. I don't know how it is in Iraq, but in the United States of America where I'm from, Korean people don't like black people. Did you know that?" I raised my eyebrow at him. Now this was just getting racist. And quite ridiculous.

"Do not lie!" Jin spoke again. Michael glanced over, still not understanding a word he was saying.

"So maybe you ought to talk to him," Michael continued, pointing at Jin.

"It's because of the watch," Sun attempted to explain, pointing to her wrist. What? Even I was confused now, which is why I didn't say anything.

"The cuffs stay on," Sayid told her loudly, as if she'd understand if he spoke louder.

"A little louder, Omar, maybe she'll understand you," Sawyer commented, voicing my opinion. I don't really know why I wasn't acting as the translator. Maybe it was just because I was confused myself. Whatever the problem was, it was something about a watch.

"Guys, that Chinese dude is going to get pretty crispy out here," Hurley intervened. "How long are you going to keep him tied down like that?"

"He tried to kill Michael. We all saw it. The cuffs stay on until we know why."

I shot another glance at Sun and said, "Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding. Look, whatever the problem is, it has something to do with a watch."

"Nobody would try to kill someone over a watch," Michael replied harshly. "Just tell your little Korean buddies over there to stay away from me and my boy." I crossed my arms, narrowed my eyes, and watched Michael and Walt walk away. Now I was just getting angry.

"Maybe this _is_ all a misunderstanding, but until we know for sure, he's not going anywhere," Sayid told me, much more kindly. I looked away and nodded. Glancing one last time at Sun, I walked away.

Later on in the afternoon, I found Sun again. This time she was alone. I wanted to talk to her and find out what she knew, so this whole new problem could just be solved and over with. I was sick of all of the conflict and fighting. Honestly, why couldn't people just get along?

"Sun!" I called out to her. She looked over and upon noticing me, waited until I met up with her. "Can I talk to you?"

"Is it about what happened earlier today?" she asked. I nodded.

"I just want to know if you knew why Jin attacked Michael. There are too many problems on this island already. I want this one to be over with," I explained to her. Reluctantly, she looked around the area, seemingly checking for anyone around. She then took me deeper into the forest so that we were away from the beach.

"It was the watch." My eyes widened. Sun just spoke in…English.

"Sun, you can…you can speak English?" I asked her, now speaking English as well.

"Yes," Sun replied.

"W-why didn't you mention this before?"

"My husband doesn't know, Dani. And he can't find out." I looked at her for a minute and considered my next question.

"Am I the only one who knows this? Here, I mean?" Sun nodded once again.

"I trust you. Please don't tell anyone," she practically begged. Automatically, I nodded. Sun was my friend—possibly my closest here—and I wasn't going to tell anyone if she didn't want me to.

"Why did Jin attack Michael over a watch?" I asked her.

"The watched belonged to my father. Protecting it is a question of honor," she explained. I nodded understandingly.

"And so when Michael took it, he took it as an insult even though Michael didn't know," I said. Sun nodded back. "Well, I guess I'll have to go explain this to them then." Sun smiled thankfully at me and we walked back to the beach together.

I stopped when I saw Michael. I quickly caught up to him. "Michael!" He turned back when he heard his name and rolled his eyes when he saw me. My dislike for him boiled up briefly, but I pushed it aside.

"What now?" he said.

"It was because of that watch," I told him, gesturing towards the gold watch on his wrist.

"What?"

"The reason Jin attacked you," I replied, annoyed. "It was because of the watch you are wearing."

"The watch?" he questioned incredulously. "He tried to kill me over a watch?"

"Sun said that it belonged to her father and that it protecting it was a question of honor for him," I clarified. He scoffed.

"Unbelievable," he remarked. I attempted to swallow down my annoyance, but it didn't really work.

"I'm just telling you what Sun told me, alright," I snapped and stalked off before I got too frustrated. There was something about him that just really annoyed me. Well, at least the conflict might be solved now. Maybe.

When Jack and Kate had finally come back from their trip up to the caves, Jack announced that he was taking some people to live up there. I considered it, but ended up refusing. We needed to be on the beach if rescue were to come. They would need to see us.

Well, needless to say, once the problem between Michael and Jin had been at least somewhat solved, Jin and Sun left for the caves. And Sun just happened to be my closest friend here. So now I felt like even more of a loner than before. At least Boone stayed…and I really needed to stop thinking like that.

I shook it off. Boone was my friend. It was fine for me to be glad he was staying at the beach. But part of me felt glad not because he was my friend, but because…oh, I don't even know. What did I really think about him? Well, he was cute and funny, and had the best smile. He made me smile whenever I saw him, even if he did get on my nerves. I sighed. Time to test this out. I walked over to the fire and sat next to him.

"Hey," I greeted. This was clearly the beginning of all our conversations by now. He glanced over and nodded at me.

"Hey," he answered. He looked away from me and I watched as the dancing fire reflected in his blue eyes.

"So, the caves. Planning to go anytime soon?" I asked curiously and silently hoping he would say no. I got my wish as he shook his head.

"Nope. What chance of rescue do we have there?" he replied, voicing my exact opinion. I looked back at me, with an impassive expression. "You?" I shook my head as well.

"Not in my plans," I answered. He briefly half-smirked.

"Good." He quickly glanced away, and my heart gave a little flip-flop. He said good…he said good! He was glad I was staying!

Oh my god…Dani, snap out of it! I don't even know if he likes me as more than a friend. I don't even know if _I_ do! I could just think he's cute and like him because he's nice to me. Yeah, that's it. Plus, we're eventually getting rescued. Once we leave, we're just going to go separate ways and that's it. I won't see him again. As much as I tried to convince myself that was a good thing, I filled with dread at the thought.

I had only known him for a week, and yet I liked Boone. I liked Boone a lot. I am so hopeless.

_Callie_

_Flashback_

"_Miss Georgeston?"_

"_It's Pace. My last name is Pace."_

_The principal's assistant flashed an irritated look at me. "Until it says it legally on file, you are to be referred as Miss Georgeston." I narrowed my eyes. "Your mother is here. Come in the office, please." I sighed and pushed myself out of my chair. Detentions, parent-teacher conferences; this was all usual._

_Without looking at her, I took a seat next to my mother and gave a head nod towards the principal. The principal, no surprise, shot a warning at me. I smirked. I wasn't really one for rule-following. "Ms. Pace, as you know, Callie has been acting up lately. We've called you here today because she recently showed extreme violence to a fellow student. She got to the point where she gave the student a black eye and several bruised parts of the skin. Any explanation, Miss Georgeston?"_

"_One, its Pace. Two, he was asking for it," I replied nonchalantly with a shrug of my shoulder. My mom looked over at me with her eyebrows raised._

"_Callie…" she started in a warning tone._

"_What? He made me angry! So…I punched him; over, and over, and over," I cried in an innocent voice, which was contradicted by what I said. The principal sighed and leaned closer to my mom._

"_Ms. Pace, has Callie taken her medications recently?" she spoke quietly, as if I wasn't even there. I rolled my eyes and glared at her. I hated that woman so much. She treated me like I was a baby and, and…someone weak!_

"…_No. No, she hasn't," my mom replied reluctantly. She didn't like the principal either._

"_Well, I suggest you give her some, before her acts are enough to get her expelled. Thanks for coming," the principal said strictly with an icy tone to her voice. As we were about to leave, she added," Oh, and Miss Georgeston, another week of detention."_

_I smiled. "Yay!" I exclaimed mockingly, and rolled my eyes when I turned around._

_Out in the parking lot, my mother finally started to speak to me. "Callie, you have to stop doing stuff like this. You're going to end up getting expelled. Or worse; we both have to keep seeing that bloody horrible woman for another 5 months until you graduate middle school." I smirked._

"_That _is_ worse," I commented. My mom turned to face me._

"_You can't let this disorder control what you do," my mom said calmly. I crossed my arms._

"_It doesn't!" I responded defensively. My mom raised her eyebrows again._

"_Cal, you given two kids broken noses and now another with a black eye!"_

"_Like I said, they were all asking for it! That one girl; she said that I needed to stop dressing like a boy and start wearing more pink! _Pink_, mom! I don't wear pink! I _hate_ pink!" I exclaimed dramatically. My mom's lip almost turned upward, but she maintained a semi-serious expression._

_"At least just try to get through the next five months without causing anymore trouble. Please; for me. And take your medications, or I'll force you to," she pleaded. She was never strict with me, but I knew she was serious this time. Something suddenly caught my attention. I turned my attention to the biggest bird I have ever seen in my life. It had to be at least as big as a car, if not bigger._

"_Mom, do you see that thing? Look at it! It's right behind you! That bird is bigger than a freaking car!" My mom glanced over to look where I was pointed but turned back with lifted eyebrows. Uh oh. "…It's a hallucination…isn't it?"_

_My mom half heartedly smiled. "Hallucinations…a symptom." I sighed and ran a hand through my blonde hair._

"_Fine, I'll take them. And I won't get into anymore trouble. At least until the end of eighth grade. Oh, and I _need_ to change my last name to yours. Did you know that two of the guys in DriveShaft have the last name Pace? I'd have the same last name as two guys in my favorite band! Plus, I refuse to go by that bastard's last name anymore! I mean, what an idiot! He gets himself locked up for all those ridiculous drug charges and then robbery. Who would do drugs anyway? They're so disgusting! Only idiots mess up their life like that! Stupid druggies…"_

_My mom rubbed her temples, and I continued much slower and more aware. "Right, racing thoughts. Another symptom. I'll shut up." I managed to stay quiet for about a good two minutes. "So…when can I get my last name changed to Pace?"_

I rubbed my exhausted eyes again. I hadn't been getting much sleep lately and I was cranky and I couldn't find my meds which made me sound like a freaking crazy person. Jack still pissed me off and since I'd moved up to the beach with Charlie, I had to remain within living distance of him. I needed to find my medications; like now.

"Hey, Callie. You feeling alright?" I took my hand away from my eyes and met Charlie's. He held his guitar in one hand and he looked rather sweaty. I slapped my hands back over my eyes.

"I'm just perfect," I responded, failing at trying to sound somewhat decent.

"Are you sure? You don't look to good." I felt a spark of irritation flash through me and I uncovered my eyes again, glowering at him.

"Well, you know what; you don't look too good either. I'm fine. So just leave me alone," I snapped, shooting up from my resting spot against a tree. I rapidly started down the path to the beach, not bothering to take the time to feel bad for what I said to my uncle. I didn't care. I angrily hit branches beside, knocking them out of my way. I knew where I could find my medicine.

Sawyer.

I paused half-way to the beach and clutched my head. My disorder was making me receive a horrible headache, and I felt drowsy and…pissed off. I jumped at a noise I heard around me. I was hearing whispers.

I slapped my head and rubbed my temples again, thinking it was all in my head. But I still heard them. I glanced all around me. No one was with me or near me, yet all these voices…they were everywhere.

"Show yourself! I'm not in the mood!" I yelled. The whispers finally stopped, but I continued to look around me. My eyes rested on a figure. A blonde woman maybe? As I stepped closer, going deeper into the jungle, I could start to make out the figure. I gasped when I got close enough.

"M-Mom?"

The figure of my mother flashed her beautiful smile at me. My breathing became deeper and tears spilled down my eyes. She wasn't real; she was a hallucination. I was just delusional. Yeah, that's it; delusional. It's really kind of sad when you really hope that all you are is crazy. I squeezed my eyes shut for almost a full minute. When I opened them again; she was gone. Just like I expected.

Still shaken up, I stalked down the rest of the path and sighed in relief when I took my first step onto the smooth beach sand. It appeared to be sometime in the afternoon. It was hard to tell down at the caves with all the trees in the way and such. I scanned the beach camp and took notice of the lack of people there. Why was there almost nobody here?

I shrugged it off and raced to Sawyer's tent, doing a quick 360 degree check. Sawyer wasn't here either guarding his stash like usual. Odd. I entered the crowded tent and began my search. I began to grow frustrated when one thing after another was the wrong thing. Out of such exasperation, I picked up a magazine and hurled it against the tent wall. I let out several deep breaths, nearly breaking down in tears.

And that's when I spotted it. The medicine stash.

I perked up and flung myself towards the stash. I dug through the containers, examining each one. I grinned when my fingers wrapped around the familiar white bottle. It was here! I uncharacteristically hugged it to myself and left the rest of the containers all scattered around the floor. Grabbing a fresh water bottle I found, I snapped open the white container and poured out two pills. I quickly popped them in my mouth and drained them down with water.

I felt better about a half an hour later, and I headed back a lot more joyously than before. I was nervous still while walking through the jungle after what I saw before. I might have a break down if I saw her again. I just couldn't handle it!

Well, I see where all the people from the beach went. They were at the caves, moving a bunch of rocks away from well, a cave entrance. I looked on curiously as the dirt covered survivors passed boulder after boulder onto one another, clearing just one more out of the way each time.

"What's going on?" I asked when I was in full view of everyone.

"It's Jack. He got caught in the cave," Hurley answered me, lifting a rock into a pile. "Charlie went down to help him." My eyes widened. Charlie was trapped in a cave, possibly injured and running out of oxygen as we speak.

"Charlie went down there? Is he alright?" I questioned worriedly. I felt awful about what I said before. I didn't want that to be the last thing I said to him.

"Yeah…probably," I heard someone respond, but I was too concerned to care who said it. I was about to rant to them how furious I was that they let him go down there, but…

"Hey, guys. It's the doctor," Walt told us. My head snapped around. There and more dirty than everyone else was a smiling Jack and Charlie, emerging from the plants. I breathed a sigh of relief and ran to my uncle, hugging him.

"Please never go down in blockaded caves again. It's not safe and it made me more frantic than I already was before!" I scolded gratefully. He laughed.

"I saved Jack though," he stated proudly. I smiled.

"I'm sorry; about earlier I mean. I wasn't myself exactly." Charlie shook his head.

"No worries. I wasn't exactly either," he said. "And I should probably tell you why," he added cautiously as an afterthought. I sighed, nodding.

"I should too."

At nighttime, I sat near a fire, watching the flames dance into the dark. Charlie was still looking sweaty and shaky like he had this morning and he still hadn't told me why. "Come with me," I heard him say. I looked up and slowly stood. I was baffled when he approached Locke, but I played along.

I looked into the different fire that Locke had started. I didn't bother saying hello to him. I was too tired and, well, Locke was brushing a dead boar which was kinda gross. "Give them to me," Charlie stated.

"This is the third time," Locke informed him. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What were they talking about? "Are you sure you really want them?"

Charlie paused. "I've made my choice." Slowly, Locke reached into his pocket and dug for something. He glanced at me and then pulled out a few small packages filled with a white substance. And suddenly I understood. I knew why he was so sweaty this past day; I knew why he's been acting so weird, so twitchy.

"You're a druggie," I whispered, disappointment etched in my voice. He met my eyes seriously.

"I was," he stated simply and then tossed the packets into the fire. I looked at him incredulously. Locke smiled proudly.

"I'm proud of you, Charlie. Always knew you could do it," Locke complimented him. I still stared at my uncle and finally I smiled as well.

"Yeah, me too." He beamed, clearly proud of himself. Seemingly randomly, he watched as a moth fluttered around the fire and into the night sky. Apparently this meant something to both of them…didn't exactly know what, but whatever.

Walking back to where we slept, I told him, "I have a bipolar disorder." He glanced over, surprise filling his expression. "That's the reason why I was so awful these pass couple of days. I…I go into these kind of…episodes if I don't take medication or I get too angry. I've broken someone's arm before because of one. But, I usually can't sleep; I get distracted easily…I even hear voices and see things that aren't there. That happened today. But, I found my medicine, and I took it. So I'm better now. For a while at least."

"Anna never told me this," said Charlie, still wearing a shocked face.

"Don't feel too left out; I didn't even know I had relatives until eight days ago," I replied, smirking. He very slightly smiled. I lied down on my 'bed' and closed my eyes. "Well, it's a good thing you quit that stuff…I hate druggies. My dad's one."

**I love that ending, haha! Reviews! :D**

**CaptJess :)**


	6. Passing Time

**After 8 days, a new chapter! Whoo! This one is shorter than my other ones but I like it; especially Dani's part. :D Thanks so much to Unidentified Pineapples and hodhod2011danger for review last chapter and to all of those who read it! Oh and the next few chapters are probably gonna take longer because:**

**I'm an assistant instructor for Camp Zoo (Phoenix Zoo) this week and so I'm with the little 1****st**** and 2****nd**** graders from 8 am-3 pm! :D They can be annoying but my goodness they're adorabible!**

**I'm kinda stuck on what I'm gonna do for the next chapter. I'm debating my options…**

**Anyways, I only own Callie and Dani.**

Chapter 6, Day 9-13

_Dani_

On the morning of the ninth day here on Mystery Island, I sat close the beach, wading my feet into the water. My journal was placed carefully in my lap as my pen scratched over the blank paper. My scribble writing formed word after word of my thoughts, emptying my mind onto the paper. When I was done with the entry, I carefully shut the journal and leaned back, watching the waves crash over each other calmly.

This was one of the only times I was peaceful. When I was out here, writing, watching the ocean. It was just so calming and nice. My peaceful moments are always interrupted by something happening, though, so when I heard the sounds of a fight, I wasn't surprised.

I pushed myself up and ran to where I heard the commotion coming from. I gasped. Ok, that's it. This man had absolutely no form of decency! "Sawyer! Stop it!" I yelled, running to where he was hitting Boone. "Stop!" I knelt to my friend's side and glared up at Sawyer.

"Why the hell do you that?" I cried.

"He was going through my stuff! He needed to be taught a little lesson on how to stay off my property," Sawyer explained angrily. Rage flared up in me. That was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

"You can't just beat up people for that reason! That's ridiculous!" I shouted. Others were starting to head over to investigate the scene now, getting reeled in by the sounds of my yelling. "You know what, Sawyer, you're an asshole! You are a selfish, greedy asshole!" I ignored the shocked looks of others of what I said, and helped an injured Boone off the ground.

"I'm fine, Dani. It's ok."

I shot Boone a look, even though I know he couldn't see it. "Oh, we're not going to start this again, are we?" I said, remembering the whole drowning incident. "Boone, you're not fine. We need to get to Jack."

"Boone!" I heard Shannon exclaim and I looked to see her running over here. Goody, just what we need. Well, she was his step-sister after all, so I guess it was necessary for her to join the journey to the caves. "What happened?"

"He got beat up," I answered, stating the obvious. She glared at me, which only pissed me off more. I was helping him! She should be grateful!

"I can see that. I meant by who?" she sneered, treating me as if I was a child. She was probably younger than me, if not the same age! I sneered back at her.

"Who do you think?" I asked. She followed my gaze towards Sawyer. He was reading now and acting as if the whole thing never happened. Shannon put Boone's arm around her and helped carry him.

"We need to get him to the caves. I got him, you can go," she said. I took a calming breath.

"That's where I was taking him to, and I'm going to help," I replied, making myself sound collected. She didn't respond after that, but when I looked over at her she wasn't bouncing off the walls in joy.

"We needed some help over here!" she called out when we saw the caves and Jack sitting with Sayid, apparently stitching something up on his head. I wonder what happened to him. Boone tried to walk, but Shannon and I didn't let him. Jack and Sayid raced over to us and took him from us. I stood and watched while Shannon seized a seat by the waterfall.

"What happened?" Jack asked Boone.

"Sawyer." The cause to everyone's problems.

I watched for a while as Jack cleaned up Boone's wound from a distance. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to get in the way of Jack's work. Plus, I needed to fill my water bottle anyway. When it was around late afternoon, I went back to the beach to retrieve my bottles, but I ended up dropping them from my hands the minute I came back. Not only was Shannon having an attack (I think she had asthma), but Jack had just punched Sawyer in the face.

I stepped closer to Boone and plucked my bottles off the ground. I exchanged a glance with Sun as Sawyer ended up getting hit again. From what it looked like, Jack thought Sawyer was keeping Shannon's inhalers which I completely agreed with. Who else would have them?

When the fight was over, I was too exhausted and scared of the jungle to head back to the beach, so I stayed at the caves. Walking over to Sun and Jin, I handed them both water bottles and sat next to them. Jin actually gave me something that looked like a smile, which was the first sign of kindness or acknowledgement he had ever shown me.

Since her husband was there, Sun spoke to me in Korean. "I think I know how to help that girl," she informed me. I looked over at her, waiting for an explanation. "Tomorrow, we have to begin looking for Eucalyptus plants."

"Will they stop her attacks?" I asked. Sun paused and then nodded.

"I'm almost positive they will."

**~~o~~**

The next day, Sun gave me a description of what the Eucalyptus plants were supposed to look like and we went on a quest to find them. It wasn't hours until we finally found a description match. The plant was a light green color and held several leaves on its stems. She confirmed the plant when she smelled it.

She mashed the plant up to form a paste out of it. I smiled when it was finished and brought a finger-dip of it to my nose. A beautiful, calming scent filled my senses. "This smells amazing," I said surprised. Sun smiled as well.

A gasping interrupted my smelling-of-the-plant and I turned my head in alarm towards Shannon and Boone. Shannon was having another attack, and Boone was desperately trying to calm her down with no affect. I shot up and ran over to her.

"Shannon! Shannon, listen to me!" I cried, putting my hand on her shoulder. She continued her struggle of breathing but managed to turn some of her attention towards me. Boone knelt down to my side, an anxious look on his face.

"I don't know what to do, Dani! She won't calm down!" He was starting to sound almost as frantic as his sister. I held up my hand to cut him off.

"Ok, both of you listen to me! Shannon, remember what Jack said this morning. I want you to breathe slowly in through your nose. Close your mouth and breathe only through your nose, just like Jack showed you. Boone, you should do this too; you look like you're about to wet yourself," I instructed, following Jack's similar routine this morning. Boone shot me a look when my smartass-ness began to come through, and I managed to hold back my smirk.

Shannon's breathing slowed and the attack started to pass. I smiled at her. "Ok, good. See all better. Now, Sun made a paste from Eucalyptus plants. It's should stop the asthma like medicine would, but hopefully it'll work even better."

Sun knelt to Shannon's side and started spreading the paste on her chest and letting her inhale the scent. It seemed to calm her down and actually…it seemed to heal her. It really did work! We continued this for another ten minutes until she was fully breathing again.

Jack took a sample of the paste when he arrived and breathed in. He grinned, mentally criticizing his own stupidity for not thinking of it in the first place. I could only wonder what his adventures of the day were. "Thank you," he said to both Sun and me and looked over at me to translate.

"She knows you thanked her," I told Jack, smiling at him. I looked over at Boone, who was also smiling. He met my brown eyes.

"Well, let her know I thanked her too. Thanks to both of you," he said, gratefulness flooding his voice. I nodded, also smiling at him, and turned to Sun.

"Well, clearly you know that Boone just thanked you too, and so I wanted to also," I told her in Korean. She looked over.

"For what?" she asked. I smirked.

"By doing this, I just got moved up on Boone's good list," I joked, winking. She and I both laughed. I don't think she knew about my crush on Boone before now…unless it was obvious. Ohmygod, _was_ it obvious? I shook my head. I worried about little things too much.

Boone pulled me aside later that night, still smiling. "Hey, what you did before; I mean, um, yesterday…that was really cool." I grinned and nodded. I didn't have the slightest clue what he was talking about though.

"Thanks. Um…what did I do yesterday?" I questioned, laughing at myself. He chuckled a bit.

"Telling Sawyer off like that and helping me," he answered. I gave a slow nod in realization. "I just didn't think that someone as nice and as pretty as you would yell at, well, anybody like that, no matter how annoying. It was just, you know, kinda awesome." My attention totally cut off when he said I was pretty.

I grinned even wider. "As pretty as me?" He automatically looked as though he wished he hadn't mentioned that, but ended up awkwardly nodding.

"Well, um…yeah, yeah, as pretty as you. You must know that you are really, really pretty," he half-stuttered. My smile turned into a flirty one as I looked into his blue eyes.

"Well, you must know that you're really, really hot, right?" I repeated to him. He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I've heard people say that before, actually, but I choose not to believe them." My grin remained as I stood and brushed myself off.

"Believe it," I replied, and took one last look at him before stalking off to where I left my filled bottles of water. As I stuffed one carefully into, I heard someone stop behind me. I waited until whoever it was started talking before I actually turned around and listened.

"Why do you hang around my brother so much?"

I stared up at Shannon for a minute. "We're friends." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, that's such bull," she snapped. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Really? Cause if you know something about Boone and I's friendship that I don't, please, feel free to tell me," I wondered sardonically. She crossed her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes.

"He's in love with _me_, not you! Just stay away from him, all right? Stay away from both of us," she ordered. She even knew about Boone's feelings and she practically treated him like dirt! Anger started to boil up inside of me. What right did she have to tell me what to do? She started to walk off, but I stopped her when I spoke.

"Make me," I said my voice acidic. She looked like she could kill me if she wanted to, but I didn't care anymore. I was furious.

"What did you just say?" her voice was even sharper than mine.

"All I've been doing for the past two days is helping you, Shannon! I've never once been mean to you; I've never insulted you; I helped Sun with the plant to save your life, and then you come over here and order me to not only stay away from you, but your brother!" I paused as I gathered myself together and continued in a calmer voice, "You know of Boone's feelings for you, and yet you treat him like the dirt you walk on…I know that I have no right to stay that he deserves better, but…he _does_, Shannon!

I took another calming breath. "I have no problems staying away from you. But, Boone's my friend; and I'll hang out with him as much as I want to. You'll just have to deal with that." I cut off my little mini-speech and with the water bottles in my hand, passed a stunned and angry Shannon, and lay down in my current cave sleeping spot near Sun.

I shook my head, angry thoughts still filling my head and shut my eyes. Why couldn't anything on this island just be simple?

**~~o~~**

_Callie_, Day 13

"You built a _golf course_?"

"Yeah. For fun stuff you know."

I scanned the wide grassy field appreciatively and looked back at Hurley. "I can't believe you actually built a golf course!" Hurley's smile widened as I laughed. I whirled around as I heard footsteps behind me. I saw Charlie, Jack and Michael making their way up the hill.

"Welcome to the first, and hopefully last, Island Open!" Hurley greeted them dramatically, holding a red flag.

"What?" Jack questioned him.

"It's two holes for now, 3 par, and no waiting!" Hurley exclaimed.

"Hurley you built a _golf course_?" Jack said, repeating my exact words.

"Rich idiots fly to tropical islands all the time to whack balls around."

"All the stuff we've got to deal with, man - this is what you've been wasting your time on?" asked Michael, not sounding very pleased. Well, I thought it was a good idea.

"Dudes, listen. Our lives suck. Everyone's nerves are stretched to the max. I mean, we're lost on an island, running from boars and monsters - freakin' polar bears."

"Polar bears?" Michael asked skeptically.

"You didn't hear about the polar bear?" Charlie voice sounded completely normal as he said this, which is what made me laugh.

"Look, all I'm saying is, if we're stuck here, then just surviving's not going to cut it. We need some kind of relief, you know. We need some way that we can, you know, have fun. That's right, fun. Or else we're just going to go crazy waiting for the next bad thing to happen," Hurley finished. I nodded.

"Well, personally, I think it's a good idea," I stated. The three guys exchanged glances with each other, debating the idea. Finally, Jack nodded.

"Let's play then." Hurley and I both smiled and grabbed golf balls and clubs from the golf bag he found. The guys got into teams, with Michael and Jack playing against Hurley and Charlie. I, however, work alone.

"I'll go first," I offered, grabbing a wood from the bag.

"Yeah, good luck, little girl!" Charlie taunted. I rolled my eyes playfully as the guys started to explain the rules of golf to me, which I ignored. They all shut up the minute I whacked the ball. I watched as it flew in the air and landed a couple yards away from the hole. From where it landed, it was an easy enough shot to get a birdie.

I turned around to see the shocked faces of the four guys. "Did I do it right?" I asked in a mocking voice. Smirking, I faced Charlie. "Your turn."

Survivors began to show up to watch. Apparently the news had gotten around of Hurley's little course. I was still highly in the lead. They had no chance of beating me! Hah! I laughed as Hurley's swung hit only grass and again when they started talking about a "mulligan". I was actually having fun for pretty much the first time on Mystery Island.

When it was my turn, I swung as hard as I could and…actually had a terrible shot. "Ugh, no!" I laughed along with the others.

"Is that even possible? Bionicle girl missed a shot!" Charlie and Hurley cried. I stuck my tongue out at them.

"I call a 'mulligan'," I called, air quoting the word mulligan.

When we finally got to the final par, Charlie and Hurley both missed and I, of course, made another birdie, much to the displeasure of them, Jack and Michael. _I had just beaten all of them_, I thought with another smirk. When it was Jacks turn, we started making bets on whether he'd make it or not. I was with the not option.

"Five bucks says he sinks it," Hurley threw out, grinning.

"Hey, you're betting against me?" Charlie inquired, pretending to be offended. Hurley and Jack laughed.

"Sorry, dude, but you're a duffer like me. Plus, Bionicle girl already won." I chuckled. Looks like I have _another_ nickname.

"Make it ten and you're on!" Boone called out.

"I don't have any cash, but I'll bet my dinner on the Doc," offered Sullivan, one of Jack's patients.

"I've two tubes of sunscreen and a flashlight says he chokes." I turned in shock when I heard his voice. So, Sawyer decided to show up after all. Many of us just stared at him, also stunned that he had made an appearance.

Kate eventually broke the silence that followed his offer and said, "I'll take that action."

Although, Boone still did not look happy with Sawyer, he looked away and took the offer.

"You just bet on Jack, dumbass," Shannon teased with a smile. He smiled back.

"We need the sunscreen, Princess."

I nodded, grinning at Sawyer. "I'll take it too."

We watched intently as Jack concentrated on the hole. He pulled the putter back and let it go. The ball rolled across the grass and…plopped right into its destination. Par for Jack. Most of us cried out Oh's and laughed, and some exchanged fist bumps and smiles with the doctor.

Day 13, October 4 had passed with no sign of rescue whatsoever, but hey, at least we have a golf course.

**~~o~~**

**Yes, this was quite short, but I like it! :D Haha. I hope you did too! Reviews please!**

**CaptJess :)**


	7. The Search Begins

**Wow, ok, it's been like, over a month hasn't it? I sowry! I was kinda busy (warning: lame excuses coming up). I was at my dad's for a while and he doesn't have a lot of internet, then I got lazy, then I was at my dad's again and finally I went to San Diego for a week and a half. So yeah…**

**Well I'm back, and bored, and in the mood to write! So I'm hoping I can finish at least one more chapter before going to New Mexico and start my freshman year of high school! (Yeah more excuses) I'm quite excited for HS!**

**Thanks to Unidentified Pineapples for reviewing last time (btw, I really love your reviews! :D)! This chapter's kinda bad, but it's long and intense. I hope you like :)**

**Disclaimer: Check previous.**

**Chapter 7, Day 16**

_Callie_

I was startled awake by a blood-curdling scream for the second night in a row. The minute I heard it, I knew Claire had had another nightmare. The first one had been bad enough; enough for her to dig her nails into her palms causing a puncture in her own skin. This new one seemed to be even worse, considering she was crying for someone to help her.

I stumbled up, running to where she was standing and thrashing around. I arrived just as Charlie and Hurley ran off. Jack led Claire to sit down and I approached, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Claire, what happened? Are you alright?" I questioned her. She didn't seem to be calming down much even though we were the only ones with her and none of us would hurt her.

"Someone attacked me! He-he was trying to hurt me—hurt my baby!" she cried, with a frantic note in her accented voice. Jack placed himself in front of her.

"Claire, look at me, its ok. You're safe now," he comforted.

"Did you get a look at him?" Michael asked her. She shook her head, rocking back and forth in her seat.

"No, it was dark. I couldn't see."

"Where did this happen?" asked Jack calmly.

"H-here. I-I woke up and he was trying to hurt my baby!" she exclaimed, on the verge of panicked tears. "He had this-this thing—a needle and he stabbed me with it. He was trying to hurt my baby." She lifted up her shirt to show her large stomach, but when I examined it, it didn't look like anyone had stabbed her. It didn't look like anyone even touched her.

We didn't try to convince her otherwise and stayed with her for a while. Only when both Jack and Michael left did I talk to her. "Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?" I asked softly. She shook her head again.

"No, it-it was real. I'm sure of it," she responded, with a hint of stubbornness in her voice. I didn't question her any farther. What kind of nightmare would cause her to get that scared two nights in a row. Ok, so maybe the first one was real because she was sleepwalking and all, but she was really scared for her life this time. So, I believed her.

"Who do you think would do it?"

She paused for a moment, thinking it over with her eyebrows furrowed. She finally shrugged and looked over at me with scared blue eyes. "I dunno. But whoever did, I don't want to be anywhere near him."

We sat in silence for a while, until Charlie returned carrying a blanket and laid it around her shoulders. He sat on the other side of her. "Are you alright?" he asked her gently. She just barely nodded. "Don't worry if you want to close your eyes, I'll be here all night. I won't let anyone get to you, Claire, I promise. I won't leave you." The corner of my mouth rose slightly. It was cute how he acted around her.

"Yeah, me either," I continued. "I know a fourteen year old girl isn't really intimidating to most, but if he shows up I'll beat him up for you. Promise." She managed to smile a little bit. Like we promised, my uncle and I stayed with our friend until she eventually fell asleep.

**~o~**

I woke kinda early the next morning, even though I didn't go to sleep until late at night. That was probably a sign that I should take some more pills, but whatever. Claire was already awake and off doing something and Charlie was probably with her. I grabbed one of my empty water bottles and went to go fill it up.

"Callie!" I turned around and watched as Hurley came over to me. He stopped in front of me and readied a pen to write across a notepad. "Name please?" I hesitated and blinked.

"You, uh, know my name, Hurley," I stated, crossing my arms. He smiled and pointed the pen at me as if he realized something significant.

"Ah, but see, you don't know mine!"

I blinked a few more times and started. "What?"

"My actual name is Hugo Reyes, not Hurley," he explained. I remained confused and nodded slowly.

"Ok, awesome. I still don't know what that has to do with anything."

"I'm taking a census of the people around the caves and the beach camp. None of us really know who everybody is, and it's about time we found out. And it looks like you're gonna be the, uh, 6th person on the list. So, name please?"

"Uhh, Callie. Callie Georgeston. I'm going to change my last name to Pace once we get off this damn island," I responded. The census was a sensible thing to do, and I didn't see anything wrong with the idea.

"Age? Birthday?"

"14 going on 15. Today's October 7, so I'll be 15 in twelve days; hence I was born October 19, 1989."

"Happy Birthday in twelve days. Place of residence?"

"You mean, besides Mystery Island?" I smirked. "LA. I was going home." Hurley scribbled that down.

"Going home got it. And what were you going home from? Why were you in Australia?" I laughed bitterly. This should be interesting for him.

"Well, my mom and I were going to bust my dad out of jail. Legally, of course. Fortunately, we didn't come back with him," I told him, a devilish smirk on my face the whole time. He stared for a minute, taking in that information.

"Right, well, I'm going to go," he stated, and turned to leave. I laughed again.

"Have fun with your census," I bid him. Once he was gone I searched around the caves, looking for something to do. I spotted Claire this time, alone. I approached her and took a seat next to her.

"You feel ok?" I questioned. She nodded.

"Yeah, much better. Still a little spooked, but I think I'll be fine." I nodded too and smiled at her. I stayed with her for most of day, conversing with her on random things and keeping her company. I couldn't even imagine what she was feeling. I mean, she was almost nine months pregnant while stuck on an island with barely any medical tools and only one doctor. It must be terrifying.

Jack arrived where we were sitting later in the afternoon. "Hey," he greeted to both of us. "Uh, Callie, do you mind if I speak to Claire alone for a minute."

"Well…" I scoffed in fake offence and stood up. He grinned a little bit and for once I did something that he told me. I walked off, debating my options on what to do next. Hurley was probably out on the beach, still taking notes on the people of the crash.

I followed the path to the beach cautiously. I still didn't like the jungle and was weary of it ever since I had seen; well, whatever it was that I saw. I didn't really like thinking about it too much either. I gave a relieved outtake of breath when I arrived at the beach without seeing any hallucinations. I stalked up to the first person I saw.

"Hey, Kate. You seen Hurley? Jack kicked me out," I said, joking on the last part. Kate smiled.

"Yeah, he's around somewhere. He already asked his questions for the census on me," Kate told me. I nodded and thanked her. I spotted Hurley not too far from where Kate was, continuing to his next person.

"Hey, Hurley! Do you mind if I help? I don't really have anything else to do," I offered. He accepted and I tagged along with him. But of course, his next two people were the two people I never really liked on this island. And of course, when we asked them, Shannon couldn't just reply like a normal person.

"You want my information; Name: Shannon Rutherford, age: 20, address: Craphole Island." I rolled my eyes and followed her and Hurley as she stomped away with her bag draped across her shoulder. Boone followed, close behind.

"Where were you guys last night?" Hurley inquired.

"Um, the beach," she responded, not slowing down. Boone kept up with Hurley, walking beside him.

"So, why the interrogation?" he inputted curiously. Hurley chuckled.

"You're like the 20th person to ask me that. Why is everyone so uptight about answering a few questions?"

"Well, maybe we're just not cool with you setting up your own little Patriot Act, man." I rolled my eyes again, almost laughing.

"He's a liberal," Shannon threw out.

"Claire got attacked last night and it was Hurley's idea to start up a census to know everyone and try to find out who her attacker was," I explained to them. "She's ok though," I added at Boone and Shannon's shocked faces.

Shannon nearly threw her back down and stopped in her tracks. "I am so not moving to the rape caves."

Boone ignored her and turned to Hurley and me. "You know, your life would be so much easier if you just had the manifest. We crossed out all the names of the dead after we burned the fuselage, so it should be a full roster of the rest of us." I exchanged a look with Hurley. It would be really helpful if he knew this, before he went out and got everybody's information.

"Really? Who has it?" Hurley asked, sounding excited. Boone gave a blank look and I knew immediately without him even saying anything.

"Who do you think?"

"Well, good luck getting it from him, man," I joked, smirking. Hurley sighed and headed for Sawyer's tent. I waited for him, happy to get away from Boone and Shannon, and ended up being utterly surprised when he emerged from the tent with the manifest in his hand.

"He actually gave it to you?"I questioned astonished. He smiled.

"Apparently I have a gift," he said. I raised my eyebrows and sat down.

"Oh, I bet."

We worked together filling in the names he hadn't yet gotten on his list and making sure all the people on his list were on the manifest. This was about an hour's worth of work and everything seemed to be going right in place. So it seemed.

"Dudette? Do you know Ethan Rom?" he asked slowly. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"I've seen him. Never met him though. Why?"

Hurley paused. "He's not on the manifest." I looked up immediately, stopping mid-sentence in my scribble-writing.

"What do you mean he's not on the manifest?"

"I mean, his name's, like, not on here. He wasn't on the plane," he stated, stunned. My eyes widened in realization. I knew what this meant.

"So you mean like, he's not one of us? You mean, he was here before us? He lives on the island?" Fear swelled up inside of me at the possibility of what this all could mean. He could have been the one that attacked Claire. He could be spying on us. And if he was spying on us that must mean that he has his own people that, too, live on the island. "I-I think we should tell the others of this."

"Yeeeah." We both stumbled up quickly and sprinted through the jungle, wanting to arrive as quickly as possible to whoever we could find. We found Jack and Kate with Locke watching close by. I was too worried to even notice that Sayid was back and in pain after a week of absence. Hurley didn't seem to take note of this either.

"We've got a problem," he stated, kneeling next to a busy Jack. Hurley tried to explain what we had discovered but Jack was too caught up in trying to help Sayid.

"Jack!" I exclaimed sharply. He finally turned around and appeared to see us for the first time since we got there. "There's someone at our camp that wasn't on the plane. He was on the island before us."

"What? Who?"

I paused and bit my lower lip. "How well do you know Ethan Rom?" Sayid gave a pained gasp and sat up with much effort. He looked almost delusional and exhausted.

"That's what I was saying. There are others on the island besides us. We're not alone," he choked out, and suddenly fear struck the hearts of everyone in the area listening. We honestly weren't alone.

"Sayid, what did you see? What did they do to you?" I was met with no answer.

**~o~**

"Has anyone seen Ethan?" Jack yelled, getting up and diverting his attention away from Sayid's leg. "Where is Ethan?" Panic started to take over those who were watching and listening nearby and the noise level started to raise, none of the words meeting Jack's question.

Finally, Michael answered Jack. "Yeah, he went to go get some wood. He took off on the path to the beach. What happened?" Michael had clearly just arrived. Jack didn't answer his, and started walking around the camp.

"Where's Charlie?" he asked. I had seen Charlie around for a while now. In fact, I haven't seen him since last night. I started to worry, and searched around the camp as well, hoping for a sight of him as a reassurance. "Where's Charlie?" Jack repeated.

"He went after Claire," Locke broke in, speaking for the first time. I met eyes with my fellow survivors.

"And where the hell's Claire?" I started in a bitter tone. "In case it's slipped anybody's minds, she was attacked last night." Jack and Locke exchanged a brief look with each other and all of a sudden both ran for the jungle. I started to follow, but someone's gentle hand on my shoulder held me back. I looked up and met Kate's worried green eyes. I sighed and stared after them.

Still biting my lip in worry, I shakily sat down on the ground and waited. They'd come back eventually and when they did, I'd be here. It wasn't until about another half an hour until Locke came back without Jack. Things had calmed a bit and people went off to do their own thing. But only certain people like me and Kate and Boone waited.

I jumped up when I saw Locke emerge from the forest. Kate kinda stole my chance to talk to him but I managed to catch Kate saying, "I'm coming with you."

"I figured you might," came Locke's reply. I took this moment to step in and fell into pace at Locke's side.

"And you must know I'm coming too," I told him. It was more of a statement than a question. He gave a simple nod without looking at me.

"Yeah, figured that also."

But I wasn't the last member to this little search party. Boone asked to join in as well, despite his sister's objections. Locke explained that we were going to follow Ethan's trail as a way to find Charlie and Claire and probably Jack too.

"Let's get moving," he stated and handed Boone and I knives. He may have scared me before, but how many adults gave a teenager a knife and expected they knew what to do with it. I think I was starting to like him. With that, and a little delay from Michael, we headed out of the caves and into the jungle.

We had only been walking for a little while before we found Jack, looking confused and lost. I still didn't like being in the jungle, but I wasn't scared at the moment since I had others with me (including a hunter).

"Did you find anything?" Kate asked him. He looked down and shook his head.

"You should go back to the caves to help Sayid with his leg," Locke suggested, clearly trying to get him out of the way, but Jack refused saying that he had taken care of Sayid's leg. Jack and Locke headed away from us, going into a private conversation that the rest of us couldn't hear. I didn't bother to speak to Kate or Boone.

"Follow me," I heard Locke say. The three of us just stared as Locke began to walk away. Jack beckoned us to follow and so we did. We searched and searched but still didn't find any sign of them. Locke decided to stop and took out a piece of red cloth to mark where we've been. We had lost the trail a few minutes ago; it seemed to have just disappeared. Locke, Boone and I stayed while Jack and Kate went off to search the area.

I ignored Locke and Boone's conversation and sat down, looking around the perimeter of the area, hoping that Charlie and Claire would miraculously appear outside the bushes and saying how they escaped. But I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen. I sighed when Jack and Kate came back alone.

"If you can't find the trail…" Jack started but Locke cut him off.

"I'll pick it up again. We need to rest for a minute to get our clarity back." I turned my attention towards him and opened my mouth to say something, but I too was cut off.

"A break? It's almost 4 o'clock. When the sun sets there's no way…"

"It's 4:25 and yes, I'm taking a break," Locke snapped. This made me change my mind on my comment against the break; I didn't want to push him any farther. But I just couldn't imagine what Ethan could be doing right now. He could be killing them for all we knew.

"Hey, what's this?" I turned at Boone's voice and almost gasped at what he was holding up. It was one of those tapes that Charlie wore around his fingers; this one had the letter L on it.

"That's Charlie's!" I cried, standing and getting in a circle next to Boone and Locke. Locke called Jack and Kate, who were having their own talk, over. Jack and Kate ran over to join us and Jack took the tape from Locke.

"Look familiar?" Locke said. Jack nodded.

"It's Charlie's."

"That's what I said," I added.

"You think it just came off?" asked Boone.

"No," started Jack. "He's leaving us a trail."

"A trail which we should follow," I said. Jack and Locke nodded and we were off again, searching for any part of Charlie's trail. Jack managed to find another part of Charlie's trail, but we reached another fork in the road when Locke found another footprint trail.

"What if Charlie isn't the one leaving the trail. If Ethan knows that we're behind him, he could be setting up a dummy trail. Take off in one direction, double-back his own footprints," Kate explained. I nodded, along with her, an idea sparking up in my head.

"Yeah, what if the tapes lead us to Charlie but the footprints lead us to where Ethan and possibly Claire went," I suggested. "Which means we'd have to split up in order to follow both?" Yay, I felt smart.

"She's right," Jack agreed, nodding his head. I resisted the urge to beam.

"No, we should stay together," Locke intervened.

"Why? We've got two trails, and, apparently, three trackers." He gestured to Kate and me on his last point. Locke finally considered this and agreed. I choose to go with Jack and Kate; one, because Kate was pretty much the only one I trusted in our little search party and two, because the trail we were following would most likely lead us to Charlie.

Jack was practically sprinting through the trail, trying desperately to find the next tape. I stayed behind both Jack and Kate and ignored their bickering. I picked up a few things when they seemed to forget I was there, such as Kate being on the run. The run from what? I never thought of the fact that that could possibly mean she was a fugitive, which I didn't learn until later.

"My dad was in the army. Ranger Battalion. We were stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington State. We'd go hiking together. One day we spend 8 hours tracking deer. Being in the woods, it was like his religion," Kate all of a sudden starting telling him. "That was real. Anything you want to share, Jack?"

When Jack didn't say anything, I interrupted. "Can we go now?" They both glanced at me, reminding themselves that I was indeed here and started moving once again. I felt a drop of water on my hand while stumbling past some rocks on the path, and of course rain started pouring from the sky randomly. Great, just great. This certainly didn't improve my mood.

I looked up towards the sky and cried, "What the hell?" I rolled my eyes and shivered as rain drenched me from head to toe. Now I was tired, miserable, thirsty _and_ wet. Jack found the T tape on one of the damp rocks. We all froze in fear as we heard the sound of something almost like a bird screeching. No, there was something more to it…it sounded like Claire! I took off after Jack.

"Jack! Callie! Where are you going?" I heard Kate yell from behind me. I didn't bother to answer but instead trailed after Jack, finding a vine of my own to climb up the hill that was in our way.

"Didn't you hear her?" Jack exclaimed over the heavy rain. Kate questioned him, but he kept climbing. I did as well, but I answered her.

"Claire. She was screaming. You didn't hear that?" I said, breathing heavily as I tried to get up the hill.

"I don't think that was Claire, Callie," she doubted. I shot a look at her.

"I've heard her scream two nights in a row now. Trust me, it was her."

Jack had reached the top and reached to pull himself up…but he ended up slipping. We screamed for him as he tumbled down. Despite my better judgment, I slid down my vine as carefully as I could. Kate didn't come after until I was almost halfway down. I gasped when I dropped to the bottom. I just managed to see someone kick Jack in the face, causing him to lose consciousness. A fiery rage boiled up inside of me as I looked at his face. He merely smirked and turned away.

"Ethan! Where are they? What the hell did you do with them?" I bellowed as loud as I could. "You better tell me where the hell Charlie and Claire are! You hear me? Get back here and tell me where they are!" I started to chase after him, but the moment I blinked, he was gone. Frustrated hot tears fell down my cheeks, blending in with the rain water.

I couldn't move from my spot for a while. It had stopped raining about five minutes later, and Jack came-to again and questioned about Ethan. Kate didn't see him, but Jack and I did. "He got away," I said, my tone low and bitter. "Ethan got away."

There was a silence between us until Jack said, "I'm not letting him do this."

"Not letting him?" Kate almost yelled, chasing after him. I almost was too emotionally exhausted to grasp that we were running again. Once I did, I gathered up my energy and took off after them. I had to find Charlie and Claire, I had to. I couldn't give up even if the case looked hopeless.

I tripped upon pretty much everything in sight trying to keep up with Jack, but I was determined not to let anybody or anything get in the way of saving the only family member I had left (that is, if my mom hadn't told me about anybody else) and my close friend. We finally came upon the last letter tape, the E; only it wasn't separated like the others. It was still attached to my uncle's hand. I gasped and let out a shuddered breath.

"Oh god, no!" I breathed. "Get him down! Come on!" Jack and I ran over to Charlie's hanging form and lifted him as much as possible while Kate climbed and cut the vine around his neck away. He fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Charlie! Oh, please be alive!" I exclaimed while helping Jack remove the rope vines from his neck. He wasn't breathing. I stepped aside, taking Charlie's hand, as Jack used CPR. My vision went really blurry and I thought I might black out, but when I blinked I realized they were just tears running down my face. The CPR wasn't working.

I heard the sound of sobbing in my ears without noticing it was my own. Jack was pounding on Charlie's chest now; he still wasn't breathing. I briefly heard Kate mutter for him to stop, which was unthinkable to me. "What do you mean stop? Don't stop! He s-still has a chance!" I choked out. Kate was crying now too. But Jack stopped.

This couldn't be happening. Charlie was the only person I had left. He couldn't be gone. He wasn't! So, damn it, why was Jack giving up? Charlie was not dead! "Jack, please," I meant to say this harsher, but it only came out as a whimper. It didn't appear that he heard me, but he did. And it triggered something. He shook his head.

"No," was the only thing he said before he continued pounding on Charlie's chest. I squeezed onto Charlie's hand tightly, as if it would somehow bring the life back into him. Kate kept repeating stop, but neither of us listened to her. Warm tears stained my cheeks when this still didn't seem to work. I jumped when Charlie suddenly breathed.

"Charlie!" I exclaimed, my tears becoming those of joy. I beamed, still sobbing a little, and helped Jack hoist him up. He gasped and struggled for air, but he was still breathing, and that's all I cared about. I put my arms around his shoulders and sobbed onto his shoulder. He was alive.

**~o~**

The greater problem was indeed over with, but that still didn't stop my worry. We got Charlie back to the caves safe and sound, but he hadn't said a thing since. He barely talked to us on the way back. Jack, Kate and I sat with him as Jack tended to his neck wound.

"Charlie, you've got to talk to me," Jack said after checking his breathing. "We're going to back out and look for Claire the moment the sun comes up, and I could really use your help. Anything that you can tell me about what you remember, where you were going. Did you see or hear. . .?"

"I didn't see anything," Charlie finally said, his voice low and dark. "I didn't hear anything. I don't remember anything…all they wanted was her."

"What? They?"

"All they wanted was Claire." And that was the last thing Charlie said to Jack for the rest of the night. Jack and Kate eventually left Charlie's side when they didn't know what else to say, but I sat by him, just because I wanted him to know I was there.

"Charlie, you know you can talk to me. Even if you can't remember anything, or even if you're not willing to talk, I'm willing to listen. Just so you know," I said softly. I didn't get an answer and was about to leave until I heard his intake of breath.

"The last thing I remember is Ethan taking us; me and Claire. I tried to help her, but he—he knocked me out. Then I woke up and you three were standing over me," he said slowly, his eyes not once leaving the fire. "Ethan—he's not one of us." I almost laughed.

"Yeah. Yeah, we know that." I bit my lip and looked over at him. "Do you need any company for the night? I'm here if you need me." For once, Charlie looked away from the fire and shook his head at the ground.

"No, it's alright. You should sleep," he barely whispered. I paused once again and then nodded. I stood up and brushed myself off and was about to leave. I hesitated and bent town to kiss Charlie on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're alive," I stated quietly and left. I thought my last statement over in my head. I knew what I needed to do next. Even though I never been too fond of him, he saved Charlie's life. I walked over to where Jack was. He was standing close to his medical supplies, going through them and thinking what he might need in the next few days.

"Jack." My voice came out as just over a whisper. He turned and gave me a small smile. I forced a smile out too. I was about to say a thank you, but I ended up walking over and hugging him. He was surprised back quickly returned my embrace. "Thank you. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for saving his life." I released him and once again I was on the verge of tears. Geez, I was so oddly emotional today. What's wrong with me?

Jack grinned and put a hand on my shoulder. "You're welcome. It was just something I had to do." He took his hand away from my shoulder and gestured to where I usually sleep. "You should get—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I should get some sleep. I've been told," I finished, rolling my eyes but still smiling. "Thanks." And so, once again I did what he told me (once again, what's wrong with me?).

To be honest, I was exhausted from the day and I could very easily fall asleep if I just close my eyes. I know that I would just wake up early in the morning feeling like P. Diddy (**A/N: …..IM SORRY! I haaad to! :D)** Ahem, correction: I know that I would just wake up early in the morning feeling like I never slept at all. I played in my head all the bad things that happened and could have happened today.

I couldn't believe that less than 6 hours ago I was sitting with Claire, just talking to her about random things that crossed our minds. And now who knew where she was_. Oh, not again,_ I thought when tears spilled out of my eyes for the millionth time that day. I let them fall. They stopped within an hour and I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing them not to open again until it was morning.

**~o~**

**Done! *Que end credits Lost music* As for the Kesha reference…I just had to…it popped in my head and I wrote it…I had to! Hahaha. I don't even like her, but whatever. Reviews are appreciated!**

**CaptJess :)**


	8. Not So Perfect

**Yes, this took very long, and I'm very sorry. As an excuse, freshman year of HS is freaking hard! Ahhh! But, yes, this chapter is quite short. I was gonna add day 23 and 24 to it, but I decided that that was gonna be too long of a chapter and I had a good ending already :) So, yes, short chapter coming up…**

**As for reviews, thanks so much to RobXRae13, Psycho17, y hodhod2011danger. Muchas gracias :D And as a reply to RobXRae13: Haha, yeah, Dani's my favorite :D Thanks much!**

**Disclaimer is same as always and onto the chapter!**

~o~

_**Chapter 8, Day 18-22**_

_Dani_

I sat as close to the fire as I could, shivering with a blanket wrapped around me. It is quite easy for me to get cold since I'm used to a bit of a warmer climate back in Italy. It was freezing on this island at night. It never got the perfect temperature. At day, it was too hot; at night, it was too cold. Yuck. I knew I had to go back to my tent sometime tonight; I couldn't sleep out here. I just wanted to be close to the fire for a while to get warmed up, though it wasn't working.

I sang an Italian lullaby to myself to make myself drowsy. It was sung to me as a little girl, and I loved it ever since. It comforted me, making the sound of calming waves louder in my ears. I heard footsteps behind me, and my eyes peaked open. I was a little paranoid over what happened to Claire. Poor Claire.

"How many languages do you speak anyway?" a familiar voice from behind me asked. I turned with a small smile on my face.

"Boone, what are you doing out here? Where were you?" Boone walked over to the spot next to me, and sat, smiling back.

"John and I were looking for Claire. And before you ask, no there's no sign of her yet," he responded, cutting me off when I was about to open my mouth. "You didn't answer my question. I mean, you speak English, Italian, French, Korean…what's next, Norwegian?" I looked down at my hands, smirking.

"No, no Norwegian. Mostly just the latter four," I replied, and looked back up into his sparkling blue eyes. "Well, and I'm almost fluent in German, but I'm not quite there yet. Plus, I'm learning Spanish and Russian but I just started on those. I can only say about 15 words from each." By the time I was done, Boone was raising his eyebrows. I laughed. "What about you? Any besides English?"

Boone shook his head. "No. Just a couple things in French from when I've heard Shannon speaking it." I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"I thought she couldn't speak French?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, she can. She's just stubborn." I nodded, not knowing what to say next. "Why are you out here?"

"I-I was cold, so I couldn't sleep. So I came out by the fire, hoping it would warm me up. Unfortunately, I was wrong." I didn't notice what Boone was doing until he left.

"Where are you going?" I asked. I didn't want him to leave yet.

"I'll be right back!" he called out. I blinked and shook my head, smiling. While he was gone, I desperately tried to calm my butterfly-stomach. It didn't do much good; it returned the minute he came back. I refrained from blushing as he put a light brown jacket around me. We were fairly close, I had noticed. Despite the dirt and sweat still sticking to his body, he smelled good.

He pulled me closer to him and the fire, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I was more than warm now, and it wasn't from the fire or the jacket. "You can sleep if you want. I'll keep you warm."

I gave a small and slightly flirty smile, trying to cover up the red on my cheeks. "Believe me, I'm warm now. But don't leave." He smiled back at me.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered into my hair. I rested my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes. I still didn't understand why he was so nice to me, you know, with Shannon and all. At the moment I didn't care. I left sleep overcome me, right on Boone's shoulder.

~o~

The next three days were similar to this; endure the boring day, sit out by the fire when I got cold, talk to Boone once he came back for hours until I finally fell asleep on his shoulder with his arm around me. Then I would wake up in the morning feeling cheerful and refreshed. I felt safe around him, like nothing could get to me.

He usually carried me to my tent once I was fast asleep and goes off to his own tent, but I woke up in the same place I had been the night before on the morning of Day 22. I blinked a few times before fully peaking my eyes open. It was early; early enough to the point where the sun was just rising. I was still on the beach, lying in the gentle sand next to where the fire had long extinguished. My head was still supported by something. Lifting myself into a sitting position, I saw Boone's sleeping form.

It was the first time he stayed with me all night. I allowed myself a small smile as I reached over and lightly shook his shoulder. His eyes slowly opened and he squinted at the rising sun. Still lying in the sand, he looked over at me. "Did we stay out on the beach all night?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, and chuckled.

"At least the tents aren't that much better," he stated with a hint of a smile.

I paused, trying to think of something to say. "I think I actually like it out here better." I believed we had some sort of moment there going, until my mouth got us in trouble with the universe. The high tide rose with the last bit of moon in the sky, drenching us with freezing salt water when we weren't paying attention. I screamed and jumped up out of the way, and Boone cursed a bit.

"That water is freaking cold!" Boone exclaimed, trying to shake the water off of him. I broke out in a way too loud laughing fit, which caused Boone to. "Maybe staying out here isn't the best thing to do to get you warm." I shook my head no through my giggles. Grinning, he put his arm around my shoulders again and led us off to my tent, where my warm, fuzzy blankets were. Inside, I wrapped my favorite blanket around me, and handed another to Boone. We were both still laughing a bit.

We calmed down in the next few minutes and got a conversation going once again. "By the way, I never asked. How old are you?"

"I'm eighteen. Nineteen in April. Isn't that old?" I answered, with a slight sarcastic joke added in.

"Then I must be pretty ancient," he continued. I raised my eyebrows at him waiting for him to elaborate. "I'm a full twenty-two years. Beat you by four years…oh, excuse me—almost 3." I chuckled.

~o~

Later on in the day, I sat out on the warm sand of the beach, scribbling notes in my journal and watching the waves wash in and take sand with them as they left. I heard someone approaching my right and I looked up, shutting the journal. I put a bright smile on my face. "Hello, Sayid," I greeted.

"Hello, Dani," he said, taking a seat next to me. "I need to ask a favor of you."

"Sure, what is it?" I crossed my legs and turned to face him. I was well aware of how much like a little girl I looked.

"You are fluent in French, yes?" I nodded in confirmation. He pulled a few sheet of paper out of his backpack and laid them out so I could see. "The papers contain equations accompanied by notations in French. Would you be able to translate these maps?"

I looked over the large fragments of paper he was holding out. A map of the island appeared to be sketched on it, but it was too difficult to tell. A few French notes were written here and there and I was able to read them. I took a map fragment from his hands and read over the words. There was something odd about them. It was the same thing over and over.

"It looks like the words are repeating, just like the iteration. 'La mer; Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs; A des reflets d'argent; La mer; Des reflets changeants; Sous la pluie'," I recited, and looked over at Sayid. "The first part of this directly translates to 'the sea, that one sees dancing along the clear gulfs has silver reflections. The Sea, changing reflections under the rain.'"

"What does that mean?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea. It says 'the sea'—'la mer' over and over. There's other words added to it; in the summer sky merge, it's white sheep with such pure angels…shepherdess of azure, infinite." I handed the piece of map back to him. "The words don't fit together. I-I don't understand what it is trying to say." Sayid sighed, and I stood up.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," I told him genuinely. He glanced up at me.

"It's quite alright."

I started to head down the beach, but thought of something else and turned back. "Sayid? You could ask Shannon for help. She—she can speak French."

"I thought she said she couldn't?" he asked in confusion. I smiled.

"She lied." I threw my pack over my shoulder and started my walk down the beach. I had already moved my tent earlier in the day to the new camp along with my belongings, so that was crossed off on my list. Instead, I helped others save their belongings from the chilly ocean waters.

In mid-afternoon, I grew tired and bored. I lied out on the beach near my tent and shut my eyes, protecting them from the sun's rays. I wasn't worried about getting sunburn; I'm half black, I rarely acquired sunburns. I was just beginning to drift off…

"Go help your friend Sayid," a voice passing me snapped. I shot up, looking after Shannon as she strutted away. I stumbled to my feet and caught up to her.

"I already did. I recommended you." She turned on me, her eyes blazing. Perfect, she's going to yell me again.

"_You_ put him up to it?" she exclaimed incredulously.

"I didn't _put _him up to anything. I told him he should ask you since you speak French. I thought that you might want to do something productive on this island that doesn't include getting a tan," I retorted, my voice sharp. Shannon almost looked hurt, but her expression was heated as well.

"So you think I'm useless too?"

I paused, and both my face and voice got a great deal softer. "I never said that." Shannon reignited her flaming appearance and her voice rose in anger again.

"Well, you might just say it, because everyone else on this island seems to think so! I'm the useless, mean, spoiled, self-centered bitch that doesn't know how to do anything for myself, and you're little miss perfect!" she yelled. Her words shocked me. She thought _I_ was perfect? Shannon, the beautiful, young, tall blonde thought_ I_ was perfect?

"I-I'm sorry, what? _I'm_ perfect?" I questioned, astonished. Shannon crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at the ocean.

"Everyone loves you. You're nice, beautiful, smart, you help everybody, you speak a million languages, and everybody freaking loves you, including Boone and Sayid. So why don't you be little miss perfect around them and leave me alone?" she said bitterly, but much calmer. She began to walk back to her new tent location.

"I told Sayid to ask you because I believed you could help him. I tried, and I failed. Clearly, I'm not so 'perfect'," I quietly exchanged. "I don't think you're useless." I adverted my attention away from her and made my way towards the center of the beach, where survivors were just beginning to ignite a fire.

How could she think I was perfect? I was far from perfect. In fact, in most cases, people would consider her the perfect one. Like in high school, she'd be the popular cheerleader everyone would want to be and I'd be the same person I always had been in high school: one of the bad kids. I mean, I was smart and everything and usually mastered good grades, but I hang out with what would be regarded as the 'bad crowd' and I still do in college. In other words, I was the kind of person she would pick on if we were in school world and not Mystery Island world.

I sat out near the fire for hours, but it really didn't seem like that long. I didn't acknowledge the shadow casting over the sky and the sunlight slowly fading away. I was cold again. Boone's jacket was in my tent. The fire was definitely not helping anymore after what I had grown used to. I heard a gentle and pretty singing voice from somewhere down the beach. The song was in French; and it was the same words I had previously read. La mer, la mer. It was from a song.

"Hey." For some reason, I decided to stand at his voice. So I was facing him, with a smile now forming on my face.

"Hi," I answered. "Any luck?" He shook his head no. I didn't expect any different. There was no sign of Claire whatsoever. "What a surprise." He shot me a look.

"Were trying," he said harshly. I put my hands up in surrender.

"Ok, I believe you," I countered, a grin on his annoyance playing on my face. "I just don't think there's going to be a sign of her anytime soon." I don't think Boone was listening to me anymore; he was distracted by something over my shoulder. "Boone, are you ok?"

He faced me, putting on a look that said I was the stupid one. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he snapped. I raised my eyebrows. He looked down into the fire. "Sorry, I'm just tired." Ah, the typical excuse. "You still cold?"

"Yeah, the fire never works," I answered. He gave me a half smile back.

"That's why I'm here, aren't I?"

Before I really comprehended what I was doing, I leaned in and touched my lips with his. It was gentle and modest, but slowly deepened. It didn't last very long, mainly because I broke away in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry. I s-shouldn't have done that," I stuttered. I could feel the heat on my face. There was a paused and I didn't know whether he was going to answer or not, which really made me freak out.

"Yeah, you're right. You shouldn't have." I wasn't expecting that though. I looked up to meet his eyes just as he began to walk away.

"Boone—"I started, but he was out of hearing range. I stared after him, regretting everything I did in the past two minutes. I slowly sunk to the ground when he was out of sight and back in his own tent and switched my gaze to the fire. I get that kissing him was an impulsive thing to do, but was it really that bad?

Thoughts like this raced through my head. So he didn't like me back; why didn't he just tell me that? It would sting, I admit, but it wouldn't hurt as bad as what he actually did. But now because of my stupid audacious moves, I possibly just lost my friendship with him. I'm so stupid sometimes.

How was I going to work this one out?

~o~

**Hehe, I like this one ;D**

**Reviews are indeed appreciated!**

**CaptJess :)**


	9. Oh, The Irony

**Hey, everyone! I actually managed to write this chapter before a month! Yay! Well, I don't have much to say, except that I really like this chapter and I hope you do too! :)**

**Thanks much to Unidentified Pineapples and RobXRae13 for reading and reviewing! Onto the chapter:**

_**Chapter 9, Day 23-24**_

_Dani_

I started off my morning by slipping on some clean clothes—my old ones were filthy and rather disgusting. Plus, shorts and tanks seemed much more comfortable for the day time island weather since it got so hot and sticky. I seized an opportunity in early part of the day to stroll up to the fresh water and wash off my hair. It felt relieving to be at least somewhat not gross.

Most survivors by now were on their daily routine, wandering around the camps and socializing. I wasn't in the best of moods, but I attempted to be as friendly as possible and greet the people that I passed. It wasn't easy because most of the time when I'm in a bad mood, I'm not very pleasant, but I managed to be polite.

"Hello, Dani," I heard a joyful voice say. I knew who it was because the voice was indeed in Korean. I smiled, whirling around.

"Hello, Sun."

"Come with me. I have something to show you," she declared, taking my hand and leading me to somewhere. We arrived at a leafy clearing in the jungle. It was rather isolated from the rest of our camp; a appealing, peaceful place. From what it looked like, the soil on the ground was decent for planting, and it was dug over so that someone could plant in it.

"What is it?" I asked my friend, in English now that we were alone. She looked over, smiling.

"I am going to start a garden," she stated and knelt to the ground, scooping up a handful of the dirt in her hand. "The soil here is great for planting. The trees are almost all picked over; they are going to run out of fruit soon. I was thinking that if we had this garden, we could stop relying on the trees. We could grow our own food."

A grin played on my lips as I rested my knees in the sand, kneading my fingers through the fertile soil. "That's a great idea, Sun."

"Thank you," she answered, grinning. "Of course, we need to find seeds to grow—"

"I can help with that," I offered immediately. I wanted something to do on this island. "Well, I-I don't really know exactly what I'm looking for, but I'm sure that can be solved." I chuckled.

Sun reached into a little baggie near her side and pulled out a few different seeds. She held up a few; in particular, a blue-black colored one and a grayish-yellow one. "These are two of the seeds we are looking for. This one is a guava seed and this one is a passion fruit seed."

I picked up and examined a shriveled-looking one. "Hm, what about the one that looks like a dry raisin?"

"Papaya seed," Sun said, smiling. I put the seed back into the baggie and watched as Sun dug deeper holes into the ground.

"How do you know so much about this?" I asked. She met my eyes, considered and shrugged.

"I have always enjoyed gardening," was her only reply. I nodded and watched her plant. I was trying to prevent my mind from drifting off. I was aware of what I'd end up thinking about. But it wasn't long before my mind floated away from me and landed smack-dab on planet Boone. Why didn't he just talk to me? I bit my lip, trying to push the thoughts away.

"Dani, are you all right?" Sun's voice cut through my thoughts. I swallowed silently and slowly faced her.

"I'm fine. I just—I have a lot on my mind," I told her slowly.

"Care to talk about it?"

I paused, debating. I trusted Sun; I could tell her. After all, she informed me of one of her biggest secrets. Who was I to keep one of mine from her? I sighed and turned my body to face her. "I kissed Boone. And—and, it didn't turn out so well." She was staring at me intently, surprised. I met her eyes and went on. "And I don't know what to do about it." I finished with a shrug.

Sun was quiet for a moment before she asked, "Do you really like Boone?" I, too, paused. It didn't take much pondering. Gradually, I nodded. She managed a bit of a smile. "Then talk to him. Sometimes talking is the best solution." I thought over what she said; it was true. Maybe I should just talk to him.

It was just kind of ironic; the woman who told me talking was the best solution couldn't even tell her own husband that she spoke English.

~o~

That night, I didn't sit near the fire like usual. Instead, I assisted with the firewood, snapping it into smaller pieces and dropping it into each of the many fires around the camp. I socialized with more of the survivors, learning their names and getting to know more about them. It actually wasn't that terrible.

I saw movement from the corner of my eye and froze. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'd come over and speak to me. But, no. I gazed at his retreating form—he passed me without a second glance. I sighed, clenching my teeth together. I not what you would call 'mature', but this was ridiculous. Throwing a piece of wood to the ground, I strode to catch up to him.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I questioned, my voice calm, but fierce. He saw him stop; only taking a second to glance back at me.

"What are you talking about?" he replied softly. I crossed my arms.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Boone," I stated sharply. This time he didn't even look back and didn't answer. I exhaled, trying to make myself sound collected. "Look, if you don't like me the way I do you, just _tell_ me. Don't ignore me."

There was a long silence when I believed that he hadn't even heard me. Eventually, he just shook his head and whispered, "Just forget it." He began to walk away, without even a glance back.

"Forget what? Boone!" I called out. He kept walking. That's when I decided I was done. It wasn't worth my time. _He_ wasn't. "You know what? Fine! I don't care, Boone. Do whatever the hell you want," I yelled out, so that he could hear me. "You're just like Gio!"

I plopped down angrily in the sand, glaring into the fire. "What?" I snapped at a young couple—I think their names were Nikki and Paulo—staring at me. They instantly turned away. I sat there for a while; I lost track of time. By the time I headed for bed, I was still furious. I lay on my stomach with my blanket draped across my body. I was shivering, but I didn't care. The tan jacket was abandoned, laying at the edge of my tent.

~o~

In the morning, I did the same thing I seem to do every day; stare out into the ocean and write in my journal. Although, this morning, I wasn't calm as usual. I was still fuming and had a headache to add to my bad mood. Definitely not a good start to the day. I don't recall how long it was until someone approached me. Unfortunately for whoever it was, I didn't feel like playing nice today.

"You do know that view isn't gonna change, right?" the man's voice said. I rolled my eyes. The last thing I needed was to deal with him right now. I didn't answer, so he continued. "If it's the view you're writing 'bout, that must be a pretty boring journal."

"What do you want, Sawyer?" I finally asked agitatedly. I felt his cocky smile.

"Relax, sweetheart, I just wanted to give you something." I looked up at him for the first time. His shirt was off as usual; his blonde hair falling messily over his blue eyes and his hand was outstretched to me. He was handing me a book. I just stared at him, trying to get my point across that I wanted to be left alone. He sighed and took a seat next to me.

"I heard your little fight last night." My head snapped towards him, eyeing him dangerously. "Thought this might cheer you up." He placed the book in my lap. I picked it up and examined it. It was the Outsiders, a book I had read several times during my early school years. I always have loved it. But at the moment, I didn't care what it was; my mind was only focused on the first thing he told me. The nosy little bastard.

I set the book down in the sand and started to get up. "Keep your stupid book, Sawyer. I'm not in the mood." I started to stalk away, unaware that he was following me.

"You don't think you're overreactin' a bit there, Sunshine?" he called after me. I whirled around, watching as he drew near._ Sunshine_, I repeated in my head,_ that is so inaccurate right now_. Once he caught up, he gently handed the book back into my hands. "Keep it." That was the only thing he said before he headed back to his own tent. I stared after him.

I was already bored with my day. Looking for something to do the rest of it, I remembered Sun's garden. I could always help with collecting seeds for it. Plus, Sun was probably one of the only people I could stand to actually talk to right now, so it was a win-win.

It was rather difficult trying to find fruit seeds. I gathered them from rotten fruit spread on the ground—the fruits that others didn't want. One thing was for sure; my hands required a serious washing after this to dispose of all the sticky fruit juice spread on them. But, my gathering was a success—I managed to find a few dozen of each fruit Sun presented to me.

I made my way over to the garden area, struggling to remember where it was. It wasn't too far from the beach and it was in the jungle. I found it in record time, thankfully. The scene in front of me when I arrived made me hesitate for a moment. I put on the best of a smile I could handle and waved a little.

"Hi, Kate. Hi, Jack," I greeted the two others with Sun.

"Hi. Are you helping Sun too?" Kate asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, are you?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I saw this yesterday. It's a great idea," she said, pausing in the middle. I smiled and nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sun grin in appreciation.

Jack soon left, leaving Sun, Kate and I at the garden. I emptied out my little bag of seeds and showed them to the two women. It turns out Kate had been helping collect them as well; she got a pretty decent amount. Our seeds in total were enough to plant a full garden.

So my afternoon was spent planting the seeds into the ground, along with two of the friends I could actually stand, which wasn't too terrible for a bad day. Kate broke the silence between us, "I can't believe we've been here for over three weeks."

"It's feels like longer to me," I answered.

"Really?" she asked. I smiled up at her. "So why were you going to LA?"

"I was getting an article I wrote published there. My school sent me to Australia for a writing project, and they loved it so much they wanted it to be in the newspaper. The Los Angles newspaper in particular," I explained to her. She looked impressed. "What about you?"

She paused and informed, "I was on my way to Bali. I travel a lot. I was looking forward to exploring the island. Somehow I ended up on a flight to LA, instead." I nodded and looked back down at what I was doing. "I guess that falls under the category 'be careful what you wish for'". I chuckled.

"…You understood me." I looked up in confusion. Kate was looking at Sun, instead of me. Uh oh, what'd Sun do? "You did, didn't you, you just understood what I said?" I was quick to cover for Sun, shaking my head.

"Kate, she can't speak English," I notified her. Kate glanced at me.

"But she just; she smiled at what I said! She understood me," she exclaimed and turned to Sun. "Sun, you speak English, don't you?"

There was a silence. I attempted at coating the truth again. "Kate, come on, she didn't—"

"Dani, it's ok, she knows now," Sun stated in English, giving her secret away to yet another person. Kate was smiling as her eyes widened and she faced me.

"And you knew, Dani?"

I slowly nodded. Sun broke in quickly, saying, "Please, don't tell anyone." Kate obeyed.

~o~

"Does anybody else know?" Kate asked Sun as we were walking back to the camp.

"Only Michael," she replied. I looked at her, confused.

"Michael?"

"The day you found out, he approached me as well once he gave the watch back. He wanted to know why it was so important. I didn't know what else to do," she informed me. I wonder why Michael hadn't mentioned anything to me. It was probably because he thought I didn't even know.

"And your husband doesn't know?" Kate questioned curiously. Sun stopped and gave her a desperate look. "Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

"I took English lessons in Korea," Sun told both of us. "He doesn't know. It's complicated."

"So why don't you tell him now?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I love him."

"Isn't that a reason why you should tell him?" I asked quietly. Sun shook her head.

"I'm not following you," Kate stated. Sun met eyes with both Kate and I.

"Have you never lied to a man you loved?" she simply answered. I looked down at my feet. Gio. Why did everything I do lately bring Gio into my mind?

~o~

I helped with the fires again that night, only because it made me feel productive. I decided it was much better than just sitting around, staring into the flames routinely. I advanced to the pile of firewood, where Callie apparently felt the same as I. She broke the wood into pieces and tossed them into a smaller pile.

"Hello, Callie." She looked up from the wood and gave a greeting nod towards me.

"Hey," she replied. I grabbed one of the pieces from the pile and copied her.

"How's Charlie doing? I haven't seen him in a while," I asked.

"He's doing better. He's actually talking to me." She looked back up. "He took the Claire thing pretty hard. Whenever the name Ethan is mentioned, he throws a tantrum. It's kinda scary." I chuckled.

"I'll bet," I said.

I retreated back to my tent later on. The first thing my hands rested upon as I stumbled in was a rectangular shaped item. The Outsiders that Sawyer gave me. It was already dark, so I couldn't exactly read the pages, but I opened it anyway. _When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. _I didn't even need to read the first line—I had it memorized by heart. A ride home, that's what I needed.

The beach was gentle at night. The ocean waves splashed on the surface and I waded my feet in it, no matter how freezing it was. It was calming. I wanted calm. The last couple of days had been hectic and it felt good to take in the ocean scent. I needed to remind myself to get a sea breeze candle when I got home—if I got home.

"Dani!" I stopped in my tracks and sighed. Oh great. "Dani, wait up." Boone looked even messier than normal. I had not seen Locke without him around camp—he must have tried to hunt all alone. Still no boar, so I guess that turned out so well for him.

"Now you're talking to me?" I inquired my voice on an edge. "Why? What could you possibly say—"

His lips came down on mine, cutting off my sentence. My response was extremely slow, but I eventually wrapped my arms around his neck. I forgot everything. I forgot what happened, where we were, why I was mad at him in the first place. This kiss was much longer and deeper than the first. He broke away slowly, staring into my eyes and waiting for my reaction.

"I thought—"I started. I was so confused. I thought he didn't like me and that it was always Shannon. I really did not know what else to say.

"Can I explain?" Boone asked. I gave him a nod, letting him continue. "I've—been in love with Shannon since I was kid. Since our parents got married. It's a long time to be in love with someone and I—I never thought that anyone else would make me feel the same way. And then there was you.

"Yeah, I had always liked being around you and I never even stopped to think that you felt that way. And when you kissed me, I got scared."

"Why?" I questioned him. He stared into my eyes.

"I got scared because everything that I had felt for her over the process of twelve years…came back suddenly—but only it wasn't for her, it was for you. And that—that scared me shitless." The corner of my mouth twitched upward.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked quietly. My arms were still around his neck and I really had no intention of removing them. He smiled leisurely.

"It wasn't until today when I realized that I needed to let go," he told me. "So do you think you'd mind giving me a second chance?" I grinned up at up, all my rage against him pushed aside.

"No, I don't think I would mind," I whispered, my heart fluttering. I reached up to kiss him again gently. Its odd how all of a sudden a bad day could turn into a good one. Once again, ironic.

As we walked back toward my tent, hand in hand, he broke the silence. "Who's Gio?" My head snapped hurriedly towards him.

"W-What?" I questioned, sounding more frantic than I had hoped.

"Last night when I was leaving, you yelled 'you're just like Gio'. Who's Gio?"

I was silent for a long time. "I didn't mean it. I was just mad."

"I can't really be offended if I don't even know who he is," he replied, the corner of his mouth rising. I finally sighed and close my eyes.

"Giovanni Rossi—my ex. We were together for three years. I…lied to him once and he…broke my heart," I explained steadily. I didn't want to meet Boone's eyes. "Like I said, I was mad. I didn't mean it." I felt myself being pulled into an embrace.

"I know," he whispered into my hair, stroking it. "I shouldn't have asked." I shook my head and mouthed 'it's ok'. He kissed the top of my head. I smiled.

"Are you going to stay with me tonight?" I said my voice low. I felt his grin widen.

"Why wouldn't I?" he replied. He kissed me on the lips one last time and I laid down resting my head on his chest. The tender stroking of my hair made my eyes droopy. I was gradually lulled to sleep by the soothing sound of Boone's breathing. How ironic is it that the day I spent hating him turned out to be the day I loved him the most?

~o~

**Boone and Dani are finally together! If it was OOC for Boone, I'm sorry. I tried to make him as in character as possible. Oh and for all of those missing Callie, the next two chapters will most likely be her POV. :)**

**Thanks and review please!**

**CaptJess :)**


	10. Hallucinations and Tests

** Yes after almost 2 years, I am finally updating again! I doubt if I still have any readers because of the gap but oh well. The reason this took so long is that I just kinda lost interest in the story; and now that I'm sitting here and rewatching Lost from the beginning cause I was missing it like crazy, I am FINALLY updating again. And hopefully, my interest will keep up for a bit considering I really am determined to not give up on this or any of my other stories; even though I start junior year tomorrow. Joy. **

** So, if I still have readers, here is an update! Hopefully I'll get new readers too :)**

** Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Chapter 10, Day 26-27

Callie

_My very first vacation was to San Francisco, California. It wasn't even beyond my home state and yet it was the unsurpassed vacation I'd ever been on. I had traveled with my mother nearly 6 hours from LA to San Francisco just to celebrate my 5__th__ birthday. _

_ My only memory I recall from that trip was my birthday, in which my mother urged me to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. I was terrified of heights, even back then. I repeatedly refused, whimpering to myself. "It's too high, mommy! I can't do it!" I cried, obviously panicked. My mother flashed a warm smile at me, the one that had always soothed me in the roughest of times._

_ "Don't be afraid," she assured and reached next to her to shake the railing of the bridge. "Look, it's nice and sturdy. Nothing's going to happen to you."_

_ As convincing as she was, I didn't believe her. I was as stubborn as I am today. "I'll fall!" I whined, stomping my foot. She shook her head in response, and her blonde curly hair—so like mine—fell around her shoulders._

_ "No, baby, you won't fall. I'll always be there to catch you," she replied softly and compassionately. I stared down the bridge, debating. I finally grasped my mother's hand and took my first steps across the beautiful bridge. Yes, it was extraordinarily high, but everything was all right._

_ That was the simpler times. Before I was diagnosed; before I met my father; before high school; before we traveled to Australia and returned on Flight 815. What I would give to go back to those times._

~o~

Streams of water fell down my face as I poured water on my head, ridding the sweat and dirt from my hair and face. The water was cold but it felt refreshing. In the past week, I had really done nothing, which was a change for me. I didn't wish to get involved in anything that included danger or adventure. I decided that wouldn't be fair to Charlie.

Speaking of him: "Hey, Callie, you seen Claire's luggage?" I faced him and shook my head.

"Not that I know of," I replied, shaking out my hair. He sighed, frustrated, and continued on his merry way. "Bye!" I added sarcastically. He's been avoiding everyone up until two days ago. It was something Rose said to him that made him snap out of his whole depression phase, but he was different. I don't imagine he will be the equivalent of what he was before until Claire walks through those bushes. She had really made an impact on him somehow.

Feeling bored, I trekked out in the jungle for fresh fruit I could find. Anything sounded amazing right now—I was starving. I wasn't completely afraid of the jungle anymore, but I wasn't enthusiastic about being in it. But I'm not a lazy person and after a week of doing nothing I needed to go, well…do something.

I froze when I heard voices coming from a clearing in the jungle. I cautiously hid behind a tree, praying that it was people from our camp. I peeked out slowly from the dense bark and breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Locke, Boone and Walt…and Vincent the Dog. I wonder if Walt knew that his father was looking for him.

"You can do better than that."

"You might want to take it easy on him."

I raised my eyebrows at the scene before me. In Walt's hand was a knife and it was aimed at one of the giant trees in front of him. John Locke was seriously giving a little kid knife throwing lessons. He was absolutely insane. "Are you serious?" I asked, coming out from behind my tree. The three faced me, startled, but I only looked at Locke. "You're teaching a little kid how to throw knives?"

"I'm not a little kid," Walt defended.

"You're 10. That's considered little," I replied.

"He wanted to learn," Locke broke in, giving a small smile. "I felt obliged to teach. I suppose you're going to tell someone?"

I looked away with a smirk. "No, I'm not going to tell anyone. I would, however like to observe."

"You may," Locke answered, his smile remaining when he turned back to Walt. He placed his hands on a knot in the tree. "See this knot, Walt? I want you to aim for it. Focus on it. Picture it in your mind's eye. You know what that is, right?"

"Like a picture in your head?" Walt replied. Locke nodded, handing the knife to him. I tensed up, preparing to back up if that knife bounced off the tree at me.

"That's right," Locke stated. "Now do it again. But see it. See it before you do it. Visualize the path." He let go of the knife, giving full possession of it to the 10 year old boy. As he got ready to launch it, I exchanged a glance at Vincent—as weird as it sounded, he looked frightened.

I held my breath as Walt hurdled the knife at the tree, fully aware that if that knife went slightly off course, it could hit Boone right in the chest. But I took one second to blink, and when I reopened my eyes, it was wedged in the tree, right where Locke had been pointing to.

"He actually did it," I said in awe to myself. I grinned a little as the little kid cheered about how he actually saw the path. I was just glad he didn't injure anyone. I turned my attention to a new figure approaching us. Oh, crap, this can't be good.

"What the hell is going on?" Michael yelled, and snatched the knife from Walt's grip. "Give me that!" Walt tried to explain and protest to defend himself and Locke, but his father ordered him to return to the camp. "You gave my boy a knife?" Michael turned on Locke dangerously. I rolled my eyes. He overreacted to everything.

I snapped back to attention when Michael spoke to me. "And what exactly are you doing out here?" I shrugged. "Did Charlie let you come out here?"

"I guess. I was getting fruit," I replied nonchalantly.

"And you decided to come out here and not tell anybody about this?"

I nodded. "Pretty much. He wanted to learn. It's productive."

"It's dangerous!" he retorted, his voice raising. "Man, what would your parents think of you approving of this?" I almost laughed.

"Oh, please. My mom was more childish than I am," I snickered. The smile dropped from my face. "And my mother's dead and my father's in prison. I don't think either would care."

"That explains a lot," I heard him mutter under his breath. I growled angrily.

"Excuse me?" I started to move towards him, but Boone held me back.

"All right, that's enough. Stop picking on her," Locke cut in, which only switched Michael's irritation back onto him. Michael was ticked off with him. He even once stuck the knife threateningly in Locke's face. Like I said, he overreacted to everything. I guess I understand his point, but I was too annoyed with him to care.

I jumped a little when Boone attacked Michael, grabbing the knife from his hand. Hypocrite! He was the one that held me back in the first place. "Hey, stop!" I exclaimed when Michael slugged pretty boy in the face. Locke managed to break them up.

"Easy, easy, easy. You're the one that was waving the knife around. He was just trying to make sure you didn't hurt someone," Locke interjected. I helped Boone off the ground, muttering 'idiot' under my breath. I smirked when he glared at me. "Michael, I know it's been difficult to bond with your son. You know why he's formed an attachment to me? Because I treat him like an adult. You still treat him like a boy."

"He's 10 years old," Michael declared sharply. Well, their argument went on like this, of course, until Michael ordered, "Stay away from me and my son." I raised my eyebrows at him as he left.

"Well, that was fun," I stated sarcastically and retreated from the site, leaving Locke and Boone to stare after me.

~o~

The temperature wasn't terrible the next morning; it allowed for a cool sea breeze. Around me, I gathered certain information on the people of the beach. Rose was already enjoying her day, being the optimist that she was. She clutched her ring as she walked along the shore of the beach. Boone and Dani were near Dani's tent, holding hands and smiling at each other. I have no idea when they got together, but everyone saw it coming.

Shannon and Sayid were also talking and laughing, heading down to the caves with the French maps in his hands. Sawyer as always sat next to his tent, a book perched in front of him. Tracey and Steve were involved in a conversation. And here I was alone, just observing, which was actually pretty fun sometimes for relaxing.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Walt coming near me. I smiled at him as he approached. "Hey, kid. What's up?" He sat down next to me, draping his arms across his knees.

"Callie, can you keep a secret?" he requested. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, god; what'd you do know?" I asked.

"Nothing!" I raised an eyebrow. "I was just wondering. I wanted to keep on taking the knife lessons from Mr. Locke. If I did, can you not tell anyone?" I stared at him for a minute.

"Shouldn't you listen to you father?" I tested him. I wasn't serious though; I hated sounding like an adult. Walt hesitated.

"Do you listen to yours?" he asked.

I snorted. "No!" I answered laughing. "He's a jerk. I didn't even know him until I was seven." I looked over at Walt, realizing I wasn't supporting my case much. "Not that you shouldn't listen to yours though."

"I didn't know Michael until two days before the plane left. He's supposed to be my real father but…he's not, you know?" he explained to me. I looked at the boy in surprise. I had no idea that he wasn't aware that he had a biological father until a month ago. I almost considered him lucky, but he _was_ just a little kid. He shouldn't be put through that.

I nodded. "So you won't tell anyone?"

"I won't tell anyone," I agreed. I lightly pushed his shoulder. "Just make sure not to get caught this time, kid." He smiled.

"And I'm not that much of a little kid," he protested. I smirked.

"You're in elementary school," I replied. "To me that makes you a little kid." I paused. "But you'll get there." His smile widened.

~o~

Later in the day, I headed to the caves to fill up my water bottle. I was able to just barely dodge the next blow out between Locke, Michael and Walt. It went worst than the last one. I snuck past in the background, making sure not to be noticed. When things calmed down, I knelt near the pool, dipping my bottle into it. Screwing on the cap, I glanced around the area. I saw Walt sneakily grab Vincent's leash and take off. Narrowing my eyes, I reluctantly started to follow.

I for the most part stayed within sight of him, but making sure that he didn't hear me. I wanted to ensure that he didn't get himself into any danger. I jumped as twig behind me cracked. Rotating around, I froze and my eyes widened. Oh, no. Not this again.

The figure of my mother flashed me her warm smile, the soothing smile. I shook my head, chanting to myself, "It's just a hallucination, it's just a hallucination, it's just a hallucination." The figure stepped slowly towards me, her smile remaining.

"Hello, Callie," the figure of my mother greeted sweetly. My hands shook as I backed up a few paces.

"You're not real," I whispered, shaking my head frantically. I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I wouldn't allow them to fall. I couldn't. Reaching out, the figure touched my bare shoulder. Her skin was warm, soft and very much not transparent like most of my hallucinations.

"Why would you think I'm not real?" my mother asked calmly, stroking my hair. I gulped silently.

"You're dead. Charlie and I buried you. You can't be here," I said, my voice trembling, as much as I tried to sound collected. She grinned once more.

"I am dead, Cal." I struggled to form words several times. I had no idea what to say. Am I really talking to the ghost of my dead mother? It's couldn't be possible. "Follow me." She tore her hand away from my hair and started off towards the trail Walt took. I wasn't sure if I should oblige or not; but Walt had gone down this path. Maybe I could locate him again. Reluctantly, I pursued.

This woman could not actually be my mother. This wasn't her personality. If her ghost came to me, she'd be joking around with me, trying to make it seem like her absence from the living world wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. She would explain to me what was going on and she would make sure I was alright. This wasn't my mother.

"Who are you?" I murmured. Her blue-green eyes—a reflection of my own—met mine. She didn't look confused, as my mother would have.

"What do you mean, Callie?" she questioned innocently. I crossed my arms, looking more confident than I felt.

I shook my head. "You're not my mother. Who. Are. You? What are you?" I demanded harshly. The figure of my mother—whatever it was—paused, before smiling once more.

"You'll know in time," she responded, without my mother's British accent. She continued on the path, not sparing a second glance to make sure I was following. However, I did follow, falling in step close behind her. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the figure. I knew it wasn't my mother. I knew my mother would never come back. So why did she keep haunting me?

"Where are going anyway?" I questioned, breaking the silence.

"You'll see."

"Why can't you just tell me?" I growled, my irritation sparking, and tears of frustration building up in my eyes. The figure did not answer, nor did she even acknowledge the fact that I spoke at all. I didn't talk afterwards, and focused on keeping my balance through the rugged terrain.

Finally, a faint noise sounded through the forest. Followed by another, and then another. I stopped near a clearing, not even noticing that the figure of my mother had also stopped knowingly. Listening intently, I picked up the sound of a growl, and rustling. And then a scream. I was alert by now. What the hell could that be?

"You're friend Walt is in danger," the figure spoke in a gentle tone. My eyes widened, and I turned to catch a glimpse of her expression. She appeared as calm as ever and even slightly amused or maybe interested. Her eyes met mine. "I want you to help him."

"What do you mean he's in danger? What's wrong? What did you do to him?" I spat out frantically. She chuckled, causing my eyes to narrow at her.

"Oh naïve Callie, I didn't do anything," she answered bemusedly. She took her eyes away, staring back out into the forest as if expecting something. "And I mean just that. He's in danger. And I need you to help him. It's your test."

I raised my eyebrow. "My _test_? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I could feel my temper rising at each passing second; I could have an attack if I wasn't too careful. But at the moment, I could care less.

"I could explain," she said. "But do you really want to risk a little boy's life for your own curiosity?"

I glared at the figure, but my attention was broken by a loud thud nearby. And suddenly, the figure of my mother was gone. I did a 360, but she was nowhere to be found. Another loud growl sounded. I bolted in the direction I heard it coming from. Finally, I saw Walt no less than 20 feet from where I was standing. I was shocked at the sight.

Walt was protected only by a large tree stump and some heavy vines surrounding it. Scratching and biting at the tree was a freaking polar bear. Another one. Where the hell were all these polar bears coming from? Maybe Sawyer was right about Bear Village. Walt's scream snapped me from my astonished thoughts.

Anxiety took over me for a moment, and I stood frozen there hyperventilating and shaking. I was supposed to help him. How? There's no way in hell I could take on a polar bear. Not alone. Another scream caused me to jump and get a hold of myself. I knew what to do.

"Hang on Walt, I'm getting help!" I called out to him. I turned on my heel and sprinted at top speed to the caves. I had to get someone; Locke, Jack, anybody. I suddenly crashed into a body, knocking me off my feet. A wave of relief washed over me as I looked up into the faces of Locke and Michael.

"Walt's in trouble! He just—follow me!" I gasped out. I saw Michael's expression transform to complete horror, and he wasted no time in following my orders. I led them to Walt and the polar bear, feeling another shock of relief in the fact that they were exactly as I left them, and that Walt still hadn't been harmed by the bear.

I could only watch in terror as Michael and Locke quickly formulated a plan. I hid behind the tree they started to climb, shaking terribly. I was never as brave as I led people to believe. Right now I felt like the most useless person ever; I felt sick and like crying. I felt guilty and relieved, because I realized that if nobody else had been around, Walt probably would have been dead by now because I was too cowardly to do anything.

My fear washed away little by little as I witnessed Locke and Michael's strategy slowly coming together and efficiently working. Soon, the bear was stalking away with several wounds and Walt was safely in Michael's embrace. I was still firmly planted behind the large tree, shaking. Yep, whatever 'test' this was, I for sure failed.

"You all right, Callie?" I heard Locke call from up in the tree.

"Honestly?" I said, my voice quivering slightly. "I don't think so. Can we _please_ go back to the caves? _Please_?" Locke chuckled a bit.

"Yes, yes, let's go."

~o~

The tension between Michael, Walt and Locke had officially calmed down after that incident. I smiled at the father and son from a distance as they smiled and laughed together. I carried two full water bottled in my hands, making my way over to my uncle. I noticed something in his hands that I was almost positive he didn't have before.

"Hey," I greeted. He must have jumped ten feet in the air and hid whatever it was behind his back. He smiled innocently.

"Hey," he answered, maneuvering when I tried to peek behind his back.

"What was that?"

"What was what?

"What you were just holding?"

"Holding? I wasn't bloody holding anything."

"Yes you were. What are you hiding?"

"I think you've gone mental, Cal, too much time in the sun."

I launched for whatever was in his hands. "Give it!" I managed to grab the book-like object out of his hands. Immediately, I recognized it and gaped at him.

"Charlie! Is this Claire's dairy?"

"No…" he answered guiltily.

"It is! You were reading her diary! Charlie!"

"Okay, okay! I was reading her diary, I know, I'm scum. But just give it back for a second, there was something I saw!" He reached for it, but I jumped out of the way.

"No! You can't just read through someone's diary, it's private!"

"Cal, _please_! I saw something that might aid in her rescue."

That statement is what got through to me. Reluctantly, I handed the book back to my uncle, and he flipped back to the page he was reading. I took a seat next to him, peering over at the neatly written words, letting my own curiosity take over. Charlie pointed to a sentence and I read through it.

"Here. She mentions dreaming about a black rock," he stated. I blinked.

"I don't get it."

"The Black Rock, it was something Sayid mentioned."

"Yeah, I still don't get it."

Charlie gave up and instead tried Kate and Sayid, who were sitting by a fire close to us. Sleepily, I shut my eyes, exhausted by the day's events. Being bipolar, I rarely felt tired this late at night, so I cherished in every moment I actually could sleep. I let sleep take over this time, letting the soothing crackling of the fire ease my mind.

I was out throughout the whole night, which was a very rare occasion for me. When I woke up on the morning of October 19, I was met with one of the biggest birthday surprises I've ever had.

Claire was back.

**Hope you loved it! :) And yes, the next chapter WILL be Callie's birthday as well as Claire's homecoming :)**

**Thanks!**

**~CaptJess :)**


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